


Fucking Zombies

by VideoPlay5178



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-02-26
Packaged: 2018-03-14 20:53:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 30,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3425225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VideoPlay5178/pseuds/VideoPlay5178
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been five years since an outbreak of a virus that turned people into zombies swept through the world. Ray is a scavenger just trying to get by with what he can find. Even he has his off days, thank god someone was there to save his sorry ass.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Is This The Beginning?

**Author's Note:**

> There won't be many parts to this and they'll be long chapters. I saw a post on Tumblr that I can't find that said that they wanted a Raywood Zombie AU so here you go! Please leave a comment! Thank you for reading!

Ray watched the zombies wobble as they meandered around the mall. He slid through the shadows, trying not to make a sound. He really shouldn’t call them zombies because technically they were alive, but they groaned like zombies and wanted brains like zombies so they were zombies to him.

            He was scavenging for food, clothes, medicine, anything of use really. It was a tough world now that the majority of the population wanted to eat the other small population. The outbreak had happened five years ago, some virus went viral in America and some Europeans brought some infected to their country to see if they could cure people. They ended up infecting their side of the world too.

            After five years, the surviving populations made their own way in the world. Organizations popped up, entire cities built walls to protect themselves. There were groups of thieves, looking to steal from good people and there were the crazies who ruled their groups with an iron fist. Then there were people like Ray, lone wolves or sometimes a small pack, who scavenged for themselves and avoid big groups of the living and the shambling.

            A knife fit comfortably in Ray’s hand as he edged through the mall. A large backpack hung off his shoulders. A sniper rifle, bow, arrows, and a shot gun were strapped to the pack’s sides for easy access. All of Ray’s food and water were in his pack along with medical supplies and a blanket.

            His purple hoodie was muddy and covered in dirt from years of not washing it. His gray t-shirt was more brown now than anything. He had his hood up to protect his head from the cold. His shoes were old and worn sneakers that were still holding together somehow. His jeans had multiple holes in them and he was hoping to find a better pair here. He was also looking for a sleeping bag or a heavier blanket as well as a heavier jacket.

            A pistol rested in a holster strapped to Ray’s waist along with the sheaths for two knives, one of which was currently in Ray’s hand. He went from store to store, searching for anything of use. A few of the stores that he entered had a zombie or two wondering around. Quickly and quietly, Ray stabbed them in their disgusting eyes before they could hear him. They were blind and relied heavily on their hearing and sense of smell. Regardless, like all zombies, scrambling their brains killed them for good.

            He managed to find new pants and a jacket before accidently setting off an alarm. There had been a shiny new knife in a store case that Ray just couldn’t resist taking. The glass on the show case had already been broken, however, the motion detectors, for some stupid reason, were still working.

            The alarm blared through the store and the zombies were hissing and growling at him as he ran for his life. There were too many of them to fight. Some of the zombies were distracted completely by the alarm, while others noticed Ray and were chasing after him.

            New knife in hand, Ray slid into a store room and slammed the door behind him. He didn’t have time to push something in front of the door before the zombies were slamming their fists into the door, body checking the door in their efforts to get to him. Ray struggled to keep the door shut, his feet sliding on tile as he tried to keep the door closed with his shoulder.

            There was no exit from this room other than the one Ray was holding closed. Eventually the zombies would grow tired of trying to attack him and leave, however, Ray had no idea if he would be able to last that long. He didn’t want to die here, he wanted to complain to himself that it was too fucking cold. He wanted to trick bandits and groups into helping him. He wanted to live. He didn’t want to become a zombie.

            Just as Ray was about to open the door and go down fighting, multiple shots rang out in the mall and the zombies slamming at his door ran off to follow the sound. Ray’s chest heaved in his surprise. Was there a group of morons out there? Fuck it, they were saving Ray’s ass here.

            Ray pushed himself off of the door, glancing around the room and grabbing what edible food was stored on the shelves before leaving. He jumped a mile when there was a polite knock on the door.

            Ray peaked at the door from around a shelf. Did the owner of the gun shots save Ray? Did they see him run into the storage room? Hesitantly approaching the door, Ray pulled out his pistol. He opened the door a crack and looked at who stood on the other side.

            A tall muscular man stood sheepishly in front of the door. He had sandy blond hair and bright blue eyes. He was wearing a red plaid shirt under a heavy, brown, leather jacket. His pants were torn like Ray’s and his shoes looked like they could fall to pieces at any moment. He was holding a heavy rifle in his hands and the straps to a backpack were on his shoulders. A machete hung from his hip and the limb of a crossbow poked out from either side of his head like horns.

            The man smiled at Ray as he slowly opened the door further, pistol ready to shoot if necessary. “Are you alright?” The man asked him, sliding his rifle onto his back, the butt of it poking up from his shoulder. “I saw you run from the zombies.”        

            Ray looked the man up and down. He didn’t look dangerous, but that never really meant anything. “I’m alright, were you the one who distracted them?” He asked, relaxing his stance enough to still be on guard.

            The man nodded. “I did, I was looking around here too.” He said, holding his hands up in surrender to Ray. “I’m not going to hurt you, I’m a scavenger myself.”

            Ray eyed the man for a moment longer then slid his gun back into its holster. He offered the man his hand. “I’m Ray.” He said with a lop-sided grin.

            “Ryan.” The man said, smiling back and taking Ray’s hand in a firm handshake. “Were you almost done searching around?”

            Ray shook his head. “I had a few more stores to search. I’m looking for a sleeping bag.” He said, glancing down the hallway. Some zombies were shuffling past the entrance, not paying them any mind.

            “There’s a camping store near here. It’s where I was when you went running.” Ryan said, quietly making his way to the open mall again. “I think there was a sleeping bag in there, there’s not much else throughout the rest of here.”

            Ray nodded and followed Ryan. They didn’t talk again, even when they were searching the store. Ryan had less weapons than Ray did and his backpack looked basically empty. Ryan picked up a fucking can opener in the camping store when they got there. He had to be low on supplies.

            They were both able to find a sleeping bag and strap them to the bottom of their packs. As soon as they were sure that the store was clear, they high tailed it out of the mall. They traveled in the same direction into the woods behind the building without speaking for quite some time.

            Eventually, Ray was sure that they were far enough to speak. Zombies stayed mainly in large cities although there were a few that wondered through the woods. “So, are you running low on supplies or something?” Ray asked Ryan, stopping for a moment to dig through his pack. “Are you a rookie scavenger?”

            Ryan stopped and watched Ray for a moment, frowning. He sat on the ground and dug through his pack as well. “Well, I was part of a group not long ago.” He said, pulling out an empty plastic water bottle and sighing. “I was with them since the beginning, but our leader went a little bat shit and I made a run for it.”

            Ray nodded, pulling two of his carotenes, he had four all filled to the brim with fresh water. He tossed one to Ryan before taking a swing of the other one. “Ah, fucking sucks man.” He said, placing the carotene back into his pack. “You can keep that.”

            Ryan smiled gratefully at Ray, taking a small drink before sliding it into his pack. “Thank you Ray. I only managed to escape with the crossbow and the backpack. I found the rifle and machete at some point. I also have a blanket.”

            Ray nodded, digging through his pack again. “How much food do you have on you?” He asked, finding his store of granola bars. He quickly counted them, he had twenty.

            “Basically none.” Ryan sighed, pulling out a can of black beans. “I have this and nothing else. I’ve actually had it for a while, just had no way of opening it.” He said, pulling out the can opener and smiling proudly. “Now I have this!”

            Ray chuckled and smiled at how big a dork this guy was. He looked big and scary, but he was just a teddy bear. Ray tossed ten granola bars at Ryan. “Take that.” He said before slinging his pack on his back. He looked up at the sky through the trees, it was getting late. “I’m going to look for someplace to sleep.”

            Ryan looked at the food in shock. “You sure?” He asked, quickly putting them in his pack before Ray could change his mind. He looked at the sky as well. “Shit, that’s probably a good idea.”

            Ray smiled and nodded, scanning the trees for a moment before he saw a road. Where there was a road, there was shelter that was hopefully not infested with zombies. “Yeah, want to tag along for the night?” He said, looking at Ryan.

            Ryan nodded quickly, slinging his pack on and standing. “That would be nice, thank you.” He smiled.

            Once on the road, they quickly found a small housing development. There were few zombies around so they slid into a random house and searched it. The house was already well searched, but Ray found some more clothes that would fit them both. Ryan even produced some lighters.

            They spent the night in the house, taking turns keeping an eye out. Sometimes zombies wondered into houses, sometimes housing developments could be the home to gangs. One could never be too careful.

            Once morning hit, they searched the rest of the houses and hit the jackpot in one of the houses. Ryan broke open a locked closet with a hammer he found and inside was a shit ton of canned goods. Half of them weren’t any good, but they stuffed what they could into their packs, Ryan being able to carry the most, before getting out of the area.

            They followed the road into small towns and scavenged. Although there were many times where Ray or Ryan could part from each other, they didn’t. When they were safe, they talked about anything and everything. Ryan was actually a huge gaming nerd like Ray, he had kept his group alive for a long time because of the knowledge that he had from games, just like Ray had. They joked about their favorite games and got into friendly debates about the stupidest shit.

            Ray found that Ryan was a crafty guy, he could make grenade like things out of cans and broken scissors. He could also make arrows out of anything, which meant Ray didn’t have to be so sparing with using his bow. Ryan also had in strength what Ray lacked, although Ray’s survival knowledge from being a scavenger since the beginning and his quick wits and light frame go them out of a lot of trouble.

            They balanced each other out well and they generally liked each other’s company. Although it was never spoken out loud, they were a pair now and neither of them really minded. Both agreed that it was better than talking to the nearest inanimate object for companionship.

            They were scavenging a house just before night, two months after meeting each other. Snow fell heavily outside, and they had lucked out in finding an empty housing development that had no gangs and hardly any zombies. With luck, the zombies would even freeze and they could scavenge the entire development. Hopefully they could stay there until the snow cleared up.

            “Maybe we should find a group.” Ryan suggested as he and Ray laid down their sleeping bags. “It’d be safer.”

            Ray shook his head, setting his pack down next to his sleeping bag before sitting on the ground. “In my experience, groups end in a few ways.” He lifted his hand and held up one finger. He tapped that finger with his other hand. “They kill each other, they get killed by zombies, they break up and everyone becomes scavengers, or they are crazy and no one wants to join them.” He said, lifting a finger for every option. “And if they’re still together, they want to kill you, eat you, or they don’t trust you and take all of your shit and then you’re fucked.”

            Ryan frowned and sat across from Ray. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hairs. “I suppose you have a fair point there.”

            Ray shook his head. “I’ve seen it all.” He sighed, giving Ryan a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about it, I survived all this time by myself, with you here both of our chances just doubled.”

            Ryan smiled back at Ray, ruffling the younger man’s hair. “Why did you become a scavenger anyway?” He asked. He knew that Ray had been a scavenger from the beginning, but he had no idea why. A lot of people were pushed into military zones until those crumbled.

            Ray swatted Ryan’s hand away with a laugh before shrugging. “I knew what would happen. I’ve played enough games, I’ve seen the walking dead.” He said, pulling his knees to his chest and resting his chin on them. “I was better off fending for myself, and when the military zones went down it just proved my point.”

            Ryan shook his head. “I wish I had that forethought.” He admitted. “Group life was hell. No one could agree for five fucking seconds.” He sneered then sighed. “Everyone wanted to do something else and no one would back down long enough for anything to get done. I should have left long before it got as bad as it did.”

            Ray smiled at Ryan, poking the older man’s foot with his own. “How bad did it get? I know you don’t like talking about it, so you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” Ray said quickly, realizing what he had asked. Ryan avoided talking about the group he was with so Ray didn’t ask. Now however, they were together long enough that Ray hoped that he had the right to ask.

            Ryan sighed, placing his toes on top of Ray’s, making the younger man laugh quietly. He smiled gently. “Well, we turned into one of those crazy groups. We found an old warehouse to bunker down in. We were fine until one of the guys we let in took charge. He seemed fine at first, but he quickly turned into an asshole.” Ryan frowned, eyes glazing over as he reminisced. “He pushed a man off of the roof of the building because he question his authority. A few of us tried to leave together, but none of them would listen for five seconds and I think only I got out.”

            Ray frowned, scouting forward slightly. He took Ryan’s hand and squeezed it lightly, smiling at Ryan. “But you’re alight now!” He said cheerfully. “Only having to deal with one other person is much more agreeable.”

            Ryan chuckled and squeezed Ray’s hand back. “You’re right, I’m glad I saved your ass.” He smiled, laughing when Ray’s face twisted into a fake scowl.

            “I did not need your help!” Ray joked, his voice light. “I could have saved my own fine ass.”

            Ryan snorted. “Yeah, and that’s why you were cowering in a closet.” He countered, shaking his head.

            “I was not cowering!” Ray laughed, lightly punching Ryan’s arm. “I was scavenging.”

            Ryan rolled his eyes and laid down on his sleeping bag. “Right, whatever you say Ray. It’s your turn for first watch.” He said, closing his eyes and smiling.

            “I distinctly recall having first watch last night too.” He snorted, stretching his back and staying upright anyway. He smiled and poked Ryan’s side. “Just be glad you’re hot.”

            Ryan snorted and cracked an eye at Ray. The older man smiled brightly before closing his eye again. “You do have a fine ass by the way.”

            Ray blushed lightly, looking anywhere but Ryan. The older man loved to take Ray’s joking compliments and confidence and throw it back in his face like they were true. “Damn right I do.” He chuckled.

            They fell silent, Ray waking Ryan up two hours later before falling asleep. They were unfortunately stuck in the housing development for a month. It snowed heavily for five days straight. Luckily, the houses around them were full of good shit that they could use.

            One particularly cold day, Ryan grabbed some wood from a wood pile at the back of the house and set up a fire in their temporary home’s fireplace. Ray leaned against the brick of the fireplace next to Ryan, shivering under the two blankets that he had wrapped around himself.

            Ryan was struggling to light the frozen wood, his hands shaking. Ray frowned and untangled himself long enough to make Ryan sit down next to him under the blankets. Ray leaned into Ryan’s side, sharing the older man’s warmth. “Try again when you’re warmer.” Ray scolded, feeling much warmer with Ryan beside him.

            Ryan was stiff for a moment before he leaned back into Ray, resting his head on top of Ray’s which was resting on Ryan’s shoulder. “Alright.” He breathed tiredly, his hands shaking under the blankets. He could see his breath in the house and he found it unnatural.

            Ray saw Ryan’s hands shaking and took them into his owns, hissing when they were cold enough to make Ray’s fingers burn. “Fuck Rye.” He sighed, pulling Ryan’s hands to his chest and blowing on them. “We need to find gloves or something.”

            Ryan watched Ray with a faint blush. Ray was so warm that it was burning his fingers, but it was a good pain. “Gloves would be nice.” He said, breaking the comfortable silence around them a few moments later. “Hey Ray, what were you doing before hell broke loose?”

            Ray tucked Ryan’s hands under his chin, shivering when the cold seeped into Ray from their skin toughing. “I was in New York with my family.” He said quietly, remembering the day perfectly. “I was visiting my parents for the first time for a long time. We were walking our neighborhood when zombies came out of nowhere and grabbed my mom. My dad tried to stop them but got grabbed too. I went to help them, but they told me to run. I didn’t want to, but I had to, they were gone.”

            Ryan frowned and squeezed Ray’s hands gently. “I’m sorry Ray.” He said gently, pulling Ray’s hands to his chest to warm them.

            Ray smiled, laughing. “You’re hands aren’t warm yet asshole.” He said, although he didn’t try to pull Ryan’s hands back. “It’s alright Rye, it was five years ago.”

            Ryan nodded, blowing on Ray’s hands. “Still.” He said, smiling at Ray. “Although I’m glad you survived through the beginning.”

            Ray stared at Ryan blankly for a moment before resting his head on Ryan’s shoulder again. “It’s the least I could do for them.”     

            Ryan smiled and rested his head on Ray’s again. His hands felt warmer and he probably should have tried the fire again, but the wood was wet and he was comfortable. “I had just gotten off a plane and walked right into this shit. Apparently New England was the first place hit.” He said, recalling the news he heard while in the military area. “Although it was worse down south.”

            “You’re from Georgia right?” Ray asked, continuing when Ryan nodded. “I heard it was absolute hell down there, that’s while I didn’t go south like the others. At least zombies freeze in the winters here, even if we’re buried under six feet of snow.”

            Ryan chuckled. “I heard my parents were in a military district, but that was three years ago.” He said. “I want to know what happened to them, but I think I already know. They weren’t the youngest pair in the world.”

            Ray squeezed Ryan’s hands. “I’m sorry Rye.” He said, closing his eyes. “At least I have the comfort of knowing.”

            Ryan smiled bitterly. “It’s alright, I like to think that they died in their sleep.” He admitted, blowing on Ray’s hands again. “They would have wanted it that way.”

            Ray chuckled and slid his hands free from Ryan’s. He untangled himself from the blankets and securely wrapped them around Ryan. He picked up the lighter and tried to light the fire. “You’re still shivering.” He said before Ryan could protest. “I can do this, I survived a hell of eight feet of snow before. I’ve got this.”

            Ryan chuckled and held his opposition to himself. Ray wasn’t a weakling, he was knew far more about surviving the elements than Ryan did. If he was by himself, he would probably have lost his fingers to frost bite already. He had actually wanted to keep going, out of this housing development, but Ray had taken one look at the sky and insisted that they stay. Ryan was extremely glad that they did. Three to four feet were already on the ground, more could come at any time. This housing development was a god sent, plenty of barely scavenged houses and hardly any zombies and no gangs to deal with.

            After a few tries, Ray actually managed to get the wood to light. Soon enough they had a decent fire going and were huddled next to each other in front of it. “Hey, if we catch some deer or something, we could have some fresh meat.” Ray said, leaning slightly into Ryan’s side. They still had a blanket wrapped around them, but they only needed one now. “It’ll be a decent meal for a change.”

            Ryan nodded. “We could go hunting tomorrow, if it ever stops snowing.” He suggested, glancing outside. It was currently not snowing, but it was also dark outside. Even if the majority of the zombies were frozen, it still wasn’t safe to go outside at night.

            “It’s actually easier to hunt in the snow.” Ray said, stretching his spine a few unpleasant sounding cracks coming from the younger man. “It’s hard to see what you’re aiming for but what you’re aiming for also can’t see you.”

            “Huh.” Ryan thought for a moment. “We’ll use the bows?” He asked, although he already had an idea of what the answer would be.

            Ray nodded. “I made the mistake of trying to using my sniper rifle once and had to run from ten zombies that had heard it. Luckily they were more interested in the dead deer than they were in me.” He said. “So yeah, we’re using bows.”

            Ryan chuckled and nodded. “We’ll probably only need to get one for now.” He said, thinking about how much usable meat was on a dear.

            Ray shook his head. “Nah, we get what we can while we can, including rabbits.” He said, shifting to sit cross legged under the blanket. Ryan was just a tiny bit sad Ray was no longer leaning on him, but only because Ray was warm. “We can make jerky and it’ll keep through the winter and into spring. Extra food also never hurts if you’re completely snowed in too.”

            “Never would have thought of that.” Ryan admitted sheepishly. “You really know what you’re doing.”

            Ray snorted and smiled at Ryan. “Not like I haven’t been doing it for five years.” He slid his hands out from under the blanket and held them up to the fire. “Granted, I did what you were thinking for two years until a real bad snow storm left me stranded in the woods one year. I found a camp site and nearly died of starvation. I lucked out that a deer had died nearby and once I got food in me I knew I needed more. I shot nearly every deer in the area and found instructions on how to make jerky.”

            Ryan shook his head, smiling. He ruffled Ray’s hair. The younger man had a story for everything he did. “Lucky you.”

            Ray smiled brightly at Ryan. “Keep me, I’m a lucky son of a bitch.”

            Ryan laughed. “You shouldn’t call your mother that.” He smiled, nudging Ray.

            “This coming from the man who said ‘glad you’re my sister’ when we were playing that word game.” Ray snorted, shaking his head. “And for the topic of things to say in bed too.”

            “I’m from Georgia! What do you want from me?” Ryan defended, laughing.

            Ray smiled and shook his head. They slept by the fire that night, curled under their blankets. The next morning they packed all of their things into their bags and headed out. They always returned to the same house, but they never knew if they needed to make a quick escape and would need to leave with all of their things.

            Ryan was amazed at Ray’s ability to see something that wasn’t there and hit a deer in the head every time. Ryan managed to hit a deer once and on accident, he hit it in the ass. He did however manage to kill two rabbits with one arrow and was rather proud of that fact.

            They returned to the house with two deer and three rabbits. Ray showed Ryan how to skin the animals and remove the meat from the bones. He then showed Ryan that to make jerky all you really had to do was dump enough salt on the meat that you felt nauseous just looking at it before hanging it over the fire.

            They kept some of the meat to just cook over the fire while the rest of it they buried in the snow to keep it cold. Ryan excelled at cooking the fresh meat however. He figured out the easiest way to hang the meat over the fire while it remained in the fire pit. He was even able to make it taste better with some spices he found.

            Ray dug into the meat as soon as he tasted it. “Holy shit Rye. This tastes fucking amazing!” He said between bites.

            Ryan chuckled, eating the food just as quickly as but cleaner than Ray was. “Thank you.” He said smugly. “I’m glad you like it.”

            “Makes up for the two rabbits you were able to kill.” Ray smirked at Ryan, knocking him down a peg.

            Ryan huffed then smiled, relaxing. This was why they balanced each other out well, they didn’t let the other get too big of a head. “Shut up, I don’t even know how you even saw some of those deer.”

            Ray grinned at him. “Eagle eyes baby!” He laughed, finishing his food and whipping his hands on his pants. “The jerky will take a few days, but the meat should stay good in the snow.”

            Ryan nodded. “Alright, good. So we’re set for a while or should we go hunting again?” He asked, finishing his own food.

            “We should definitely hunt as much as we can.” Ray shrugged, laying on the ground, rubbing his stomach contently. “Call me paranoid, but you never know what’s going to happen.”

            “Alright.” Ryan chuckled, whipping his hands on his pants as well. Most social norms were long since forgotten since the outbreak.

            They stayed in the housing development for the entire winter. They hunted and scavenged the area until they knew there was not much left for them there. However, by that point they had enough jerky to last them the rest of winter and a few months into the spring and summer. They had plenty of other supplies as well, four containers of water for each of them, enough medicine to take care of a severed arm, plenty of other food stuffs, and enough ammo for them to be a little reckless. 

            As soon as the snow had melted to a more manageable amount, they left the housing development. They wanted to be in a new area before the zombies completely thawed. Their luck was thin however when they made it to a town surrounded by thousands of zombies. The town was surrounded by a huge stone wall with guards all along the top of it.

            “Looks intense.” Ray said as they studied the town from behind a car along the road to the town. “We should just move on.”

            “What if they have supplies to offer?” Ryan suggested, counting the men and women on the wall. “Some of them have binoculars, maybe they’re looking for survivors.”

            “To shoot.” Ray sneered, shaking his head. He had tried what Ryan was suggesting a couple times. He had a badly scarred side wound for his efforts. “It’s not a safe bet Rye.”

            Ryan sighed and nodded, taking Ray’s lead on this. The younger man had seen more than Ryan had. Ray had seen living people eat each other while in a group. “Alright, how are we doing this then?”

            Ray shrugged and started walking between cars, moving slowly away from the wall. He was artfully avoiding the zombies that shambled along the road. Ryan followed close behind him, impressed that they hadn’t been spotted yet. They had been close enough to the wall to be spotted if they had stepped into sight.

            Eventually, Ray seemed to think that they were in the clear and started walking normally. Ryan followed his lead, wincing when the loud squeak of a speaker turning on echoed after them. They both immediately got down and out of the way of the zombies that rushed blindly for the noise.

            “Hey, you two scavengers.” A gruff voice said, ignoring the growling horde at the base of the wall. “If you come around the other side of the wall, we can give you some supplies, if not, you have a clear path now.”

            Ryan squinted at the wall, trying to see who was speaking. They were too far away for him to see nothing more than tiny dots on the wall. He looked at Ray who was also squinting at the wall. The younger man sighed and nodded. “Alright, they might have some good shit.”

            Ryan nodded and followed Ray as they entered the woods on the other side of road. They quickly made it around the wall and found that one of the roads leading to the town was completely zombie free. Static from the speakers continued, drawing the majority of zombies to the other side, but as some appeared on the clear road, someone with excellent aim shot them down.

            They approached the wall with caution, ready to bolt if the people on the wall started to shoot. At the base of the wall was a group of heavily armed men. They stood in front of a small iron door that lead into the town.

            None of the men aimed their guns at them as they approached, nor did they request for Ray and Ryan to drop theirs. Ray held his pistol tightly while Ryan had his rifle at the ready. They stopped a couple yards from the men.

            One of the men grabbed a duffle and walked half way between their uncomfortable stand off and placed the duffle down before backing away from them. “Sorry, we don’t have any more room in the city.” Another guard said as Ryan put his rifle away and slowly approached the bag.

            “That’s fine by us.” Ray said, never letting his guard down. “Thanks for the supplies though.”

            The guard who spoke nodded, smiling. “No problem, it’s the least we can do.”

            Ryan smiled at them, taking the duffle and walking back over to Ray, never turning his back to them. Ray and Ryan backed away slowly, only turning their backs to the wall when they were far enough away.

            They walked until they made it to a small town with plywood walls between buildings. They stayed low, the duffle slung awkwardly over Ryan’s shoulder. “Now that I don’t trust at all.” Ryan whispered to Ray. There were a few zombies pounding on the weak wall.

            Ray shook his head. “Probably a gang or bandits.” He whispered back. “This one we need to go around.”

            Ryan nodded in agreement and followed Ray as they hid behind trees and cars all the way around the town. They saw a few guards poking their head over the wall but they quickly passed them once the heads disappeared.

            Once past that town, they walked until the sun started to set. “I don’t want to camp out on the road.” Ray frowned, glancing around. “We might have to climb a tree or something.” The road they were following was littered with zombies.

            Ryan squinted, looking down the road. “There looks like there’s a clearing up ahead.” He said, pointing to a spot a half a mile ahead of them. “There might be a building there.”

            So far the road had been lined with trees. Ray tried to see what Ryan was seeing and shrugged. “Worth a shot.” He sighed, walking a bit faster. Ray was always anxious at night.

            Luckily there was an old gas station in the clearing that Ryan had seen. There were hardly any zombies roaming around it and there didn’t appear to be any humans around.

            “I guess we’re staying here for the night.” Ray sighed, sneaking up to the building and glancing in through a window.

            “Doesn’t look like anything is in there.” Ryan said, sliding up to the door. He looked through the clear window and frowned when he saw a bell hanging above the door. “There’s a bell though.”

            Ray shook his head. “That window is broken.” He said, pointing to the window on Ryan’s left. “We’ll climb in.”

            Ryan nodded and climbed over the window seal, avoiding the broken glass. Ray followed after him, cursing quietly when he caught his arm on the glass. Ryan frowned worriedly, handing Ray a clean rag while he quickly checked to make sure they were safe.

            Finding only a dead zombie and literally nothing else, he returned to Ray who was struggling to search through his pack with one arm. Ryan swatted at Ray’s hands gently, taking his pack and looking through it. He pulled out the gauze and peroxide out of the pack and moved to sit beside Ray.

            Ray removed the rag, tossing it on the ground. It was completely soaked. “Well damnit.” Ray hissed when Ryan poured the peroxide on the cut. “There wasn’t any blood on the glass before was there?”

            Ryan glanced at the glass Ray had cut himself on and shook his head. “Just yours.” He reassured Ray, pressing a cotton pad into the cut before wrapping it tightly with the gauze. “You’ll be fine.” He smiled at Ray as he tapped the wrapping down and placed the medical things back in Ray’s pack.

            Ray smiled back at Ryan, looking over his patch up job. “Not bad Haywood.” Ray chuckled, sliding to lean against the counter. “Anything good in here?”

            Ryan shook his head, sitting next to Ray. “Nothing.” He said, yawning. “I’ll take first watch.”

            Ray nodded, resting his head on Ryan’s shoulder. Ray was out like a light in minutes and Ryan watched the few zombies around the gas station wonder around. He was about to wake Ray when his two hours were up when he saw a bunch of lights appear on the road.

            He heard people talking loudly and his stomach dropped. The zombies ambled toward the group, but he heard the soft thunk of a crossbow releasing a few times. He gently shook Ray. “Ray, wake up.”

            Ray looked up at Ryan with tired eyes. He blinked a few times, hearing the people coming closer. He was on his feet instantly, crouching and trying to see what was going on. “Shit.” He hissed, watching their lights. “They’re really fucking loud.

            The hisses and growls of zombies made both Ray and Ryan jump. They got behind the counter and watched as zombies flooded past the gas station from the woods behind it. “Fuck.” Ryan whispered. “We need to get out of here.”

            Ray nodded, wide awake now. He looked back at the people who were getting louder as more zombie’s approached them. A few gun shots rang out and both men winced. Ray looked around the gas station and his eyes fell on the dead zombie.

            “I’ve got an idea.” Ray whispered to Ryan as he made his way over to the corpse. He pulled out his knife and cut the body open.

            Ryan watched in disgust as Ray dipped his hands into the blood and rubbed it on the front of his jacket. “Seriously?” Ryan hissed, shaking his hand and mimicking Ray. “Does this even work?”

            Ray nodded, wrinkling his nose in distaste. “Yeah it does, we’ll clean our cloths later. Just don’t bump into them and be quiet.” He ordered, making his way for the back door.

            Ryan nodded, shivering when one of the people outside screamed in pain. Ray silent counted to three then opened the back door. A zombie ambled into the gas station, but didn’t seem to notice Ray and Ryan.

            Ryan’s heart was racing as he followed Ray through the door. They slowly walked through the zombies, careful not to bump into any of them or make too much noise. The zombies walked like they didn’t know they were even there.

            Once they had cleared the horde, the screams and gun shots of the group still echoing behind them, they bolted. They ran as far and as quickly as they could. Ryan’s heart was still pounding when they stopped in the middle of the woods. There was nothing around them but trees.

            Ray leaned against a tree, panting. He was looking every which way, paranoid that zombies would appear at any moment. Ryan nearly gaged when he got a whiff of himself. He looked at Ray. “Looks like we’re sleeping in the trees.” He panted.

            Ray nodded, looking around and picking a tree. “This one has a branch for us both.” He sighed, pulling his pack off of his back and digging around for a moment.

            Ray had often told Ryan that he would sleeping in trees when he couldn’t find a shelter for the night. They hadn’t needed to do it since they had met, but Ryan was intrigued to finally see how this worked.

            Ray had never had to do it with two people before, but they managed. He sent Ryan up the tree first, showing him how to wrap the rope he had around the tree and use that to climb. He followed as soon as Ryan was on the right branch and had tossed the rope down to Ray. Once Ray was up there with him, Ryan had to pull the younger man into his lap for him to get onto the branch.

            Ryan through Ray would move out of his lap, but Ray just made himself comfortable and instructed Ryan to tie their waists to the tree. Ryan blushed brightly as he did what he was told, not wanting to make a fuss.

            Once they were tied to the tree tight enough for Ray’s standards, the younger man leaned back against Ryan, both of their packs in his lap. “At least we can both sleep.” He said, his back to Ryan’s chest and his head under Ryan’s chin.

            Ryan’s heart pounded and he knew Ray could feel it. “Easy for you to say.” He grumbled, unsure what to do with his hands. What if he woke up with a boner or something? He wasn’t a kid anymore but it still happened sometimes. Not only would Ray never let him live it down, but they were tied together and Ray’s ass was right on Ryan’s crotch and oh god this was bad.

            Ray snorted. “Relax Rye.” He said tiredly, folding his arms. “Just wrap your arms around my waist.”

            Ryan hesitated, his arms currently hanging uselessly at his sides. He took a deep breath and did as Ray suggested. He leaned his head back against the tree, trying not to think about how nice it felt to hold Ray like this. Ray feel asleep easily, leaving Ryan with his thoughts for an hour before he also fell asleep.

            They woke with the mornings first light blinding them. Ryan blinked awake, his cheek resting on Ray’s head. His arms were wrapped tightly around Ray’s waist. Ray stirred under him groaning and shading his eyes with his hand. “Fuck that’s bright.” He sighed, looking down and ignoring the sun as he started to untie them from the tree.

            “Morning Ray.” Ryan yawned, letting go of Ray so he could move more freely. “How are we getting down?”

            “Basically the same way we got up here.” Ray said, untying the rope and pulling it from around the tree. “I’ll just go down first.”

            Ryan nodded, temporarily over their close proximity. He would be embarrassed about this later, but he was too tired right now to care. Ray slid down the tree, throwing the rope up to Ryan. He was short the first two throws, but eventually Ryan caught it and hit solid ground.

            He wrapped the rope up as they walked, not even a road in sight. He handed Ray the rope. “So we’re just going to keep walking until we find something?” He asked.

            Ray took the rope and stuffed it into his pack. “Basically.” He nodded, readjusting his pack. “We might end up sleeping in trees for the next few nights.”

            Ryan didn’t complain about that. They slept in trees for three more nights, completely lost in the woods. They were heading towards the morning sun, they both agreed on that. Although sleeping in trees wasn’t ideal, or completely comfortable, it was the most sleep either of them had gotten in a long time. Since nothing would be able to get to them, they could both sleep without the fear of being eaten.

            Ray woke up on the third night, Ryan’s arms tightly around him and the older man’s head nuzzled into his hair. He smiled, blushing faintly. He hated sleeping in trees because it was cold and uncomfortable, but Ryan made it so much better. He was warm and Ray always felt safe with Ryan’s arms wrapped around him.

He glanced around, careful not to wake Ryan. He had heard something. Directly below them was a zombie, looking around. He wobbled where he stood, he might be able to smell them because they were both still covered in zombie blood.

            Ray stayed awake until the zombie ambled on. The fact that there was just a random zombie in the woods told him that they were getting close to something. Ray relaxed in Ryan’s arms, chuckling quietly when the arms around him tightened and Ryan mumbled something under his breathe. Ray fell asleep, feeling safer than he had in years.

The next morning they continued walking, finding a few more zombies along the way. They slipped past them and found a trail with a sign on it.

            “A campsite? Fuck, we must be far out.” Ryan frowned, reading the signs. A wooden pole in the ground had three wooden arrows nailed to it. Two pointed up the trail to two different campsites. The third sign pointed the other way and was directed toward a trailer park.

            “Let’s go to the trailer park, there might be some shit there to get.” Ray said, starting down the path the arrow pointed to. “Campsites are full of zombies and not much else.”

            Ryan nodded and followed Ray, glancing around. “Maybe we could get one of those trailers to work.” He suggested, eyes lighting up at the idea. “We could always have shelter!”

            Ray chuckled. “Now that’s an idea, do you know how to get one working?” He asked, excited at the idea.

            “Hell yeah I do.” Ryan smiled brightly. “We could scavenge parts off of other cars. I’m sure there’s cars with gas in them that we could siphon.”

            “Alright.” Ray laughed, rolling his shoulders. “This should be awesome then.”

            The trailer park was bustling with zombies. Ray and Ryan were glad that the blood on their clothes still smelled. They weaved through the zombies carefully, checking trailers as they went. This was dangerous business, but they managed.

            They slid through the horde, coming out on the other end on a paved road. They didn’t speak as they quickly scurried down the road. Once they were far enough away, they slowed their pace, but whispered to each other.

            “Find anything good?” Ray asked, eyes on the woods on the right side of the road.

            Ryan watched the left side, frowning at the number of zombies he could see. “Not really, found some lighter fluid. None of those trailers were any good either.”

            Ray nodded and they were silent after that. They didn’t talk unless they needed to. They didn’t find anywhere to sleep along the road and had to climb yet another tree to sleep. Neither of them slept well and Ray noted that Ryan held him tighter. Zombies walked beneath them all night. Although they were safe, the groaning of the undead still made them uneasy.

            They were on the road for two more nights before they found a shitty motel that had wooden walls around it. Unlike a gang or bandit camp, the graffiti stated that there were survivors inside instead of warnings to stay away. The motel must have been housing a group who could be just as hostile. After sleeping in trees for five days, both of them were willing to take a small break, even if that meant staying with other people.

            They approached the wall cautiously, Ray’s eyes never leaving the women who stood on the roof of the motel. Ryan kept an eye on their surroundings as they came into the women’s view.

            “Stop!” The women said once she saw them, aiming her rifle at them. “Hands up!”

            Ray and Ryan put their hands next to their heads, both nervous about the few zombies around. “We just want to stay the night.” Ray said calmly, looking the women in the eyes. “We’ll leave in the morning.”

            “We’ll understand if you don’t want us to stay.” Ryan added, glancing at the wall. “We’ll just move on and that’ll be it.”

            The women readjusted her grip on the gun a few times, thinking. “Do you two have food?” She asked, dropping the barrel slightly.

            Ray nodded. “Plenty to feed your people, within reason.” He said, not moving. “We also have some medicine.”

            The women lowered her guard completely. “You can come in.” She sighed. “But you will be under guard.”

            Ray and Ryan nodded, not dropping their hands. They only relaxed once they were inside the wall. A big man with wide eyes pushed a dumpster aside and then pushed it back once they were in the walls.

            The women was still on the roof, but she was watching as a young man about Ryan’s age came over to them. “Thank you for offering your help.” He said, smiling at Ray and Ryan, offering his hand. “My names John.”

            Ray took John’s hand. “I’m Ray, and that’s Ryan.” He said, pointing to Ryan. He released John’s hand and let Ryan shake it.

            “Hopefully we can give you enough food.” Ryan said, releasing John’s hand.

            “I don’t doubt that you’ll have enough.” John sighed. “There’s only four of us.”

            Ray glanced around, only seeing the big man who let them in sitting on the back of a truck tinkering with something and the women on the roof who was still glaring at them. “Four?” He asked.

            Ryan spotted the little girl first. He smiled at her, chuckling. “Hey there.” He said gently, kneeling to her level. “It’s alright.”

            The girl was hiding behind a broken down van that look like its tires had melted into the ground. She had short hair that stood up at all ends and a bright pink backpack. She hesitantly smiled at Ryan then came out and walked over to him.

            Ryan offered her his hand and she inspected it before taking it in a small hand shake. Ray chuckled as Ryan ruffled the girl’s hair, making her laugh, before standing again. “We definitely have enough food for you all.” Ray told John, smiling at the man.

            Once evening hit, the women climbed down from the roof and they all sat around a small fire. Ray and Ryan pulled out their canned food and jerky, giving the group a little more than they really should have.

            The girl, Lucy, sat next to Ryan and Ray found it absolutely adorable that the older man played along with the girl’s wild tales. Ryan told her some of his own, the big man, Robert, listening in. John introduced the group to them earlier. The women was Jane and she had been with a different group until they abandoned her. She wondered around until Robert saved her from the zombies chasing her by pulling her into their encampment.

            “Robert wondered up to us a year ago.” John told Ray and Ryan as Lucy fell asleep curled into Ryan’s side. “He has some mental disability, but he’s very smart. And Jane knows the most about surviving out of all of us and is the best shot.”

            Jane glared at them from beside Robert. She didn’t want them there that much was clear. “When are you leaving in the morning?” She spat at them.

            John frowned at her and Robert made a sad noise, having not spoken once since they got there. Ryan frowned, gently rubbing Lucy’s back to help her stay asleep. “As soon as the sun rises.” He said, glancing at Ray who nodded.

            “Do you have fresh water?” Ray asked John, looking at the other man. “We’re running a bit low.”

            John nodded. “We do, you’re more than welcome to take some.” He said, smiling. “As thanks for helping us this much.”

            Ryan chuckled. “Thank you for letting us stay.” He said, glancing at Jane when she snorted at them.

            “You scavengers are all the same.” She sneered, folding her arms. “You’re going to steal everything from us.”

            Ryan frowned, but Ray kept his face neutral. “If we were any other pair of scavengers, we would.” Ray sighed, shaking his head. “But we still have something called a heart.”

            Ryan sighed at Ray, squeezing his shoulder then Jane flustered angrily at him. “Fuck you.” She hissed, getting up and leaving.

            Robert scrambled after her, making whimpering sounds. John watched her leave and sighed. “She had a bad experience with scavengers.” He offered as an explanation. “Are you sure you two don’t want to stay?”

            Ray shook his head. “No, we’ll be moving on in the morning, however-” He smiled at John, digging through his pack which was at his feet. He pulled out a crumbled piece of paper from the bottom and a broken in half pencil. He scribbled something on it before handing it to Ryan.

            Ryan raised his eyebrow at the paper, taking it anyway without question. “We’ll leave you with instructions on how to make jerky and cook raw deer.” Ray said, nudging Ryan into writing.

            Ryan chuckled and made sure not to disturb Lucy as he wrote. “W-what?” John said shocked, watching Ryan write.

            “As thanks for helping us.” Ray echoed, smiling. “Now, it’s better to have silent weapons, do you have bows or something?”

            John nodded. “We do, Robert’s fairly decent with them.” He said, still shocked. He took the paper and read over the words when Ryan handed it to him.

            Ray took the pencil from Ryan and tossed it carelessly into his pack. “Good, now here’s what you do to skin it.” Ray explained the entire process to John as Ryan handed Lucy off to Robert who came back with an apologetic smile. The man took the little girl into a motel room before coming out again and disappearing.

            They talked until it was nearly too late at night. Ray and Ryan slept outside on the same mattress. Their packs went into John’s room, the man apologizing sheepishly. Neither Ray nor Ryan minded, trusting the man somewhat. They wouldn’t leave until they were sure they had all of their things.

            Sleeping on the same mattress was surprisingly more awkward then sleeping in a tree. Ray woke up twice to Ryan spooning him. The older man had a weird thing for hugging whatever closet to him to his chest in his sleep. In this case, that was Ray.

            Ray didn’t really mind, Ryan was warm but he was blushing brightly regardless. He struggled to sleep peacefully between his embarrassment and the zombies groaning outside the wall.

            Jane woke them the next morning with a disgusted look. Ray managed to untangle himself from a sleepy Ryan, blushing. Ryan was not a morning person, he wouldn’t realize the position he woke up in until much later in the day and he would apologize to Ray in case he made him uncomfortable. Ray would always joke that Ryan was really warm so it was fine.

            They got their packs back with everything in them and slid out of the walls the same way they came in. Before they left, John thanked them again and Lucy hugged Ryan tightly. Jane sneered at them and Robert waved to them with a goofy smile.

            “What an odd bunch.” Ryan commented, still tired. “Although, that was better than sleeping in a tree.”

            Ray shook his head. “You come across a few good ones.” He said, glancing around. “The zombies are thinning out.”

            Ryan frowned and looked around as well. “Roads have to lead somewhere.” He said, shaking his head. “Maybe there’s a safer area up ahead.”

            “John did say there was a housing development up ahead that they’ve ransacked.” Ray said, thinking. “He said it was pretty over run which is why they don’t stay there.”

            Ryan looked at the zombies as they walked. “I think that mass is moving toward them now.” He said. “The area might be clear.”

            Ray shrugged. “Regardless, a housing development means there’s probably more beyond it.”

            “Fair point, maybe we can take shelter in a town.” Ryan sighed, rubbing his tired eyes. “Only one way to find out.”


	2. Forward to Surviving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray and Ryan continue to travel and get into a bit of trouble here and there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really sure how many chapters I wrote. I'll probably post one every day. I already finished writing it, I just need to go back and edit it. Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment!

Four months later, Ray found himself in a pretty shitty situation. He was tied to a pole in the back of a small shack in a town run by bandits. He and Ryan had been scavenging through a town nearby, not realizing that it was bandit territory. They were ambushed and separated. Ray’s pack was taken from him and it was now sitting on the table at the front of the shack and he was tied to the pole.

            Luckily for him, he managed to hide a knife up his sleeve. They had taken his other knives and his pistol off as well, but this wasn’t his first time being caught. As soon as the man interrogating and threatening him, all at the same time, left, Ray started to cut the ropes. He hoped Ryan was alright, he had no idea if the older man knew what to do in this situation. Ryan was smart, but he was panicky when he didn’t know what to do right away. Although, sometimes Ryan could be a creepy motherfucker when dealing with other people so Ray wouldn’t be surprised if Ryan was the one interrogating the guy instead.

            Regardless, they needed to get out of there before the bandits either ate them or shot them. It took Ray a few minutes, but he managed to free himself. He quietly got his pack and weapons back. He was amazed at the lack of guards around. Knife in hand, he walked in the shadows around the camp. There were bandit’s everywhere, it was hard to keep track of them all. Ray was glancing in buildings to see if he could find Ryan, but he had no luck so far.

            “Come on Rye.” Ray could barely hear his voice, he more mouthed it. “Where are you?”

            Ray gasped when he was suddenly pulled from where he was hiding. He struggled in the bandits grasp, stabbing the man in the stomach before running to hide again. It was too late, the man he stabbed had already made too much noise. Ray was surrounded in seconds.

            Ray sighed and dropped his knife back into its sheath. He held his hands up in surrender to the multiple guns aimed at him. The man who had interrogated Ray earlier walked over to him. “Looking for your friend got you caught.” He sneered, smiling. “I though scavengers did things for themselves?”

            Ray spat at the man’s feet. “Yeah well fuck you.” He sneered, gasping when a fist landed on his gut. He doubled over in pain. A swift kick to the knee sent him sprawling to the ground. He tried to grab his gun but the man stepped on his hand.

            The man opened his mouth to speak, probably some bullshit about the group or that Ray was an insignificant worm or something like that. However, a bullet entering his temple stopped him. He crumbled to the ground on top of Ray, his blood soaking into Ray’s shirt.

            Ray hissed and pushed the body off of him as the bandits around him searched for whoever shot. “Did the other one get loose?” One of them panicked, looking around.

            Ray took their distraction and grabbed his gun. He took out three of them before they realized what was going on. The hidden shooter took out the remaining three. Ray really hopped that was Ryan.

            He could hear more bandits gathering and shouting as he stood slowly, holding his stomach. Ryan appeared out of fucking nowhere looking worried and pissed at the same time. Without saying anything he picked Ray up bridal style and started running.

            “Wha-Ryan!” Ray held onto Ryan’s neck to stabilize himself, blushing. “What are you doing?!”

            “Getting us out of here.” Ryan said gruffly. He ducked behind a building as bandits appeared out of the nooks and crannies of the town, rushing to see what had happened. He held Ray to his chest, watching them pass and running once it was clear.

            “I can walk.” Ray frowned, holding on anyway. He kept his head on a swivel, keeping an eye out for bandits.

            “I know.” Ryan said, holding Ray tighter. He ran to the wall and looked for an exit. A dumpster pressed against the wall which served for a look out post was just tall enough for them to be able to climb over the wooden wall.       

            Ryan heaved himself and Ray onto the dumpster, holding onto Ray with one arm. Ray cling to Ryan’s neck, amazed that Ryan was able to slide over the wall one handed. They dropped to the ground and Ryan carried Ray with both arms again and ran. They could hear shouts from the camp and guns going off. Ryan smiled happily at the sound.

            “What did you do?” Ray asked, just giving up arguing and letting Ryan carry him, it was nice.

            “I opened a big hole in their wall.” Ryan chuckled darkly. “They’re probably fighting the zombies that got in.”

            Ray stared at Ryan wide eyed. Ryan was a sweet man who never seemed like he wanted to really hurt anyone. However, the dark smile on Ryan’s face said otherwise. Ray started to laugh. “Fuck yeah. Go Rye.” He said, holding onto Ryan tighter.

            Ryan chuckled then frowned. He stopped running and walked slowly, huffing slightly. He had chosen to run into the woods once they were out of the town since they would be harder to find. “Are you alright?” He asked Ray, looking at him.

            Ray nodded. “He just punched me in the gut, I’ve been shot before.” He gave Ryan a reassuring smile. “I’m fine Rye.”

            Ryan smiled back at Ray and set him on the ground. He kneeled in front of Ray and pulled his shirt up enough to see Ray’s stomach. Ray blushed brightly, looking anywhere but Ryan. “It’s already badly bruised.” Ryan frowned, inspecting Ray’s stomach. “Is it alright for me to touch it?”

            Ray nodded, shivering when Ryan’s cold fingers gently pressed into his stomach. He didn’t flinch because it didn’t hurt as bad as it could. That was a good thing as far as Ray remembered. Ryan’s fingers traced the bruise lightly, pressing into different spots.

            Ray stiffened then Ryan’s fingers ran into an old scar and lingered there. This was starting to seem more intimate than was intended, although Ray found that he didn’t mind. “Rye?” He asked nervously when Ryan started to trace the scar. “We should get moving.”

            Ryan pulled away from Ray like he was acid. He stood up quickly as Ray fixed his shirt. Ryan was blushing bright pink. “R-right. Well, nothing it broken or bleeding, we should uh. let’s get going.” He said, quickly taking off in the direction he had been walking before setting Ray down.

            Ray fiddled with the strings of his purple hoodie, following close behind Ryan blushing. He didn’t like his scars and he had a lot for five, almost six years, of hell. If he was around the living, he didn’t like taking his clothes off, but Ryan seeing his scars and touching them hadn’t bothered him. In fact, he may not have wanted Ryan to stop touching him. That wasn’t weird right? Wait…

            Realization smacked Ray in the face like a ton of bricks that turned to feathers before actually hitting him. He liked Ryan, and not in a platonic kind of way. Not in the ‘a good friend I’m okay with snuggling with’ kind of way. No no, in the ‘I want to have a decent relationship with you and lets fuck and hold hands’ kind of way.

              Ray actually stopped walking with that realization. He was so fucked. There was no way in hell Ryan would see Ray like that. None. Unless. His skin tingled from where Ryan had started to trace his scar. It had been a rather gently and loving gesture for it to be platonic. Maybe Ray was over thinking, but maybe he and Ryan had been accidently flirting with each other this entire fucking time and Ray never noticed. Fuck.

            “Ray?” Ryan’s worried voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “Are you sure you’re alright.” He asked, ready to pick Ray up again if he needed to.

            Ray nodded quickly, blushing because fuck did Ryan always look at him like that? “Y-yeah, I’m fine. Sorry I just got lost in thought.”

            Ryan relaxed, a gently smile on his face that went straight to Ray’s cheeks. “That’s unlike you, thinking.” He joked, rubbing Ray’s head, his fingers lingering longer than Ray remembered them doing before.

            “Hey!” Ray snorted, smiling at Ryan, relaxing. He tried to push his thoughts away. There was no way and if there was, now was not the time. They were still technically on the run. “Shut up asshole, not all of us are Mr. Booksmarts.” He said, walking ahead.

            Ryan laughed, walking beside Ray. “For all my book smarts, you have common sense.” He reassured Ray, smiling like Ray was all he could see.

            Ray smiled back, not realizing he was giving Ryan the same smile because he was too busy wondering how the fuck he missed Ryan being this obvious. “You flatter me, but we should get away from here. By the man power they had, it’s likely that they’ll handle those zombies easily.”

            Ryan nodded, looking ahead again. “Should we continue south like we have been doing?” He asked, dodging a branch.

            Ray shrugged. “I was thinking that we could either go south or follow the border, see what else is around.”

            Ryan nodded, thinking for a moment. “Well, if we’re following the border we should get a vehicle and a map.” He said, seeing some zombies to their left. “That way we actually know where we’re going and what we’re likely to find.

            Ray nodded. “Alright, sounds like a plan then. We’ll head for the nearest town. You’ll handle the cars and I’ll look for a map.” He suggested, moving away from the zombies with a frown. “But first, we should find a road.”

            They ended up sleeping in a tree that night. Ryan had run too far into the woods and now they were relatively lost. They were heading away from the rising sun, whatever way that was. Ryan said it was west, but Ray argued that it was just whichever way would get them to a road faster.

            Ryan stayed awake as Ray slept in his lap, leaning against his chest. He was careful not to press into Ray’s stomach but he held Ray tightly. His heart pounded in his chest, he knew a while ago that he had some feelings for Ray, but until today he was able to ignore them. The rage that filled him when he saw that bandit punch and kick Ray, it scared Ryan slightly. He had never been that angry before, he never had enough reason to be that angry before.

            Ray was worth it, he was worth getting angry over, worth protecting. He wanted to keep Ray safe, although Ray was really keeping Ryan alive most of the time. He never wanted to lose Ray and the fact that he hadn’t noticed how far he had fallen before now worried him. Ray stirred in his arms, trying to turn and when the rope tying them to the tree prevented him from doing so, he relaxed again.

            Ryan smiled gently, running his fingers through Ray’s hair. The younger man leaned into his touch, making Ryan chuckle quietly. Ray was so adorable it was killing him. Hell, knowing that he was completely taken with Ray now meant that he would struggle to hide it, he knew that.

            Oh well, as long as Ray didn’t try to push him away, everything would be alright. Ryan fell asleep to that hope, arms tightly wrapped around Ray’s waist.

            They found a paved road around noon the next day. They followed it into multiple towns, each over run with zombies. None of the towns had a car that Ryan could put into working condition. There weren’t any parts worth scavenging either. Ray did end up finding maps however, one for each New England state.

            Judging by a road sign they passed while walking on to the next town, they had just entered Massachusetts and were heading for Boston. “I bet there will be cars there.” Ryan said, looking the map over. “And maps of the entire country that we should get.”

            Ray nodded, watching Ryan read the map. The light in the older man’s eyes was just beautiful to Ray and it was killing him. He had fallen harder for Ryan than he originally thought he did. Everything Ryan did left an impression in Ray’s mind. Ray wanted nothing more than to just travel around with just Ryan for the rest of his days on this shitty Earth. He wondered if Ryan felt the same and he paid more attention to how Ryan acted around him.

            Ryan was an endless flirt, Ray doubted that Ryan realized he was doing it. If they touched, both of them tended to linger longer than intended, Ray on purpose and Ryan not so much. Ray tested his ideas out, he dropped innuendo after innuendo, shamelessly and obviously flirting with Ryan, but Ryan either didn’t get the joke or flirted back like it was just how he talked. 

            Ray decided that Ryan was the most oblivious man on the face of the Earth. Either he had no idea that Ray had feelings for him or he knew and didn’t know what to do about it. That, or Ryan knew he had feelings for Ray and didn’t want to act on them or Ryan was just oblivious. Ray was betting on that last one.

            Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter. They were stuck in a hellish world, romance was a second concern over surviving. Although, they were surviving so well that romance could be considered? Was that how these things worked? Ray had no idea.

            Boston had been the last military zone to fall and once it fell, everyone avoided it. The infection had leaked in and the entire city was a walled in hell all on its own. Zombies could get in, but few could wonder back out again. Ray and Ryan found outside stairs to the top of the wall and climbed them. There were a few zombies on the top, but they generally ignored Ray and Ryan.

            “Fuck, this was a horrible idea.” Ryan frowned, looking down into the city. There were thousands of zombies wondering the streets, there were probably more in the buildings.

            Ray shook his head. “Well, if we cover ourselves in their blood.” He said although he really didn’t want to risk it.

            “What happens if we make a noise? We’d be fucked.” Ryan countered, shaking his head. “There’s no way, there’s a smaller town, Needham. Maybe we could go there.”

            Ray sighed and nodded. “Sounds like a good idea. Fuck.” He watched the zombies, the itch to try anyway nagging at him. “Can you imagine the supplies in there?”

            Ryan shook his head. “It’s not worth it.” He said, eyes widening as a van skid through the streets, mowing over zombies. “What the fuck is that?”

            Ray watched the van come to a halt in front of what used to be where the military handed out supplies. A young man and women hopped out of the car and were completely ignored by the zombies as they took bags from the military tent and tossed them into the van. “Maybe it is worth it.” Ray said, impressed.

            “They’re running a fast operation.” Ryan said, watching some zombies take notice and meander over to see what was going on. “They have to.”

            They watched as the two humans hopped back into the van and it sped away. Ray and Ryan glanced at each other before slowly making their way around the top of the wall. They pushed the zombies they encountered off of the four story tall wall. It took them all day to get around to the other side of the wall where a huge iron gate sat closed.

            They decided to sleep on the wall since it was much safer than the ground. They took turns sleeping like they always did and once morning came, they climbed down the stairs and waited, hidden from the road. Around noon, the same van arrived at the gate, one of the people hopped out and opened the gate before hopping back into the van.

            Ray and Ryan waited for them to come back, following the van down the road when it excited the city. They lagged far behind the van, but they managed to spot it again when they arrived in Needham.

            “Do you think it’s a gang?” Ryan asked as they traveled through the woods. “Or bandits?”          

            Ray shrugged. “They don’t really look all that different on the outside so I don’t know.” He admitted, the only real difference between the two was that gangs tended to be smaller and not as ruthless as bandits. “They might be a group.”

            Ryan nodded, catching a glimpse of the van heading in the direction of a college, according to a sign. “College students?” He suggested, leading the way.

            Ray followed Ryan closely, looking at the sign. “It’s not uncommon.” He said, frowning. “Although I’ve never heard of Olin College before.”

            They eventually made it to a tiny college campus. There were only five buildings in total, all of them modern in appearance. One of the buildings, where multiple people were running around, was where the van as parked as people unloaded. There were other people moving from floor to floor helping other people. The building looked like an ant farm, its entire side was glass.

There were four other buildings, two were around a center circle where vans and other strange contraptions were placed. Two buildings off to the side looked like dorm buildings and the building closet to those buildings looked like a mess hall. The remaining building seemed to be unused.

            Ray and Ryan stayed hidden behind bushes and trees as they watched the surprising amount of people work. They didn’t have any walls, but zombies would wonder close then wonder away. “What the fuck?” Ray whispered, watching a couple zombies come close to the campus then immediately turn away again.

            Ryan inspected the devices at the center of the campus. One of the machines was spinning slowly, a light blinking every time a zombies turned away from the campus. “I think it’s that machine.” He whispered to Ray, pointing at it. “I don’t know how it’s doing it.”

            Ray shrugged. “Me either, but they have a shit ton of supplies and working cars.” He said, watching the people scramble around campus, one of them was on a fucking unicycle. “Maybe they can help?”

            “Maybe? They don’t seem hostile.” He said, shaking his head. “They’re using the zombie blood like we have.” He pointed out as some of the people ran around covered from head to toe in zombie blood. They wore masks soaked in the stuff for their faces.

            “Well, the sign said it was an engineering school.” Ray said, shifting his pack slightly. “They’re all probably really smart.”

            Ryan snorted and slid his machete back into its sheath. They slowly edged out of the bush they were hiding in and approached the campus, hands up in surrender.

            A women spotted them first and instead of aiming guns at them, she walked slowly to meet them half way. Ray and Ryan stopped short, however, the women kept walking until they were within a comfortable conversation distance from each other. She smiled at them. “Scavengers?” She asked, a few of the other people stopping what they’re doing, guns at the ready.

            Ray nodded. “Yeah, we just came from Boston.” He said, not moving his arms. “We saw some of your people gathering things and followed them here.”

            “Nice firing range.” Ryan added, eyeing the people behind the women. If either of them made a move, they would be full of holes in moments.

            The women chuckled. “Precaution.” She shrugged. “We don’t get many living people up here and if we do, they’re scavengers looking to steal.”

            “Well you know, scavengers are assholes.” Ray smiled at her. “But we’re not. We’ve been traveling for a while and have been sleeping in trees for a few days. We would greatly appreciate someplace to relax for a day or so.”

            “We’ll keep moving if you don’t want us here.” Ryan added, Ray always scolded him for that, but he thought it kind enough to at least let them know that they wouldn’t stick around.

            The women looked them up and down before calling over her shoulder to the firing squad. “Go get Sis, it’s her call.” She said before looking back at Ray and Ryan.

            “Sis?” Ray asked, raising an eyebrow. “You’re not the leader?”

            The women shrugged. “We run with an oligarchy of elected leaders.” She explained. “However, my little sister takes care of survival issues and if we should let people in.”

            Ray and Ryan glanced at each other. “You’re very efficient.” Ryan smiled, surprised at how well they had worked that out. “Have you been like this since the breakout?”

            The women nodded. “Basically, we lost a few people in the beginning, but we managed.” She said, glancing behind her to see if anyone had actually gone to get her sister. “I’m in charge of building whatever we need, someone else does scouting missions, and someone else is for weapons, another one for food and medicine.”

            Ryan whistled, impressed. “And everyone agreed to this organization and leadership?” He asked, honestly interested.

            Ray and the women gave him peculiar looks that Ryan just shrugged at. “In the beginning it was self-appointed leaders, a group that worked well together and knew what they were doing. We put people into jobs where they would be happy and fit into. Once we were stable, we let our people vote. Our leadership has only changed once since then only because one of our leaders was shot.” The women explained.

            Ryan nodded, fascinated that such an impressive and well organized group managed to form. “That’s amazing.” He smiled, looking at the machines as another women came over to them. Asking about the machines would have to come later.

            “So you want safe haven for a few days?” The new women asked once she got to them. The two women would look identically if the new women wasn’t shorter than her sister. “How can we trust you? Sell yourselves to us.”

            Ray raised his eyebrows and smiled slightly. “I’m Ray and that’s Ryan.” He said, gesturing to Ryan who waved with a smile. “We’re not assholes.”

            “We also have knowledge of what’s going on outside of your campus and will be able to help with anything that you need of us.” Ryan added quickly, trying to make sure they were actually trusted for something other than sarcasm and sass.

            The women looked them over and glanced at each other. The shorter woman shrugged. “Let them in, they won’t get far if they steal from us.” She said, offering the two men her hand. “I’m Annalise, supervisor for all survival necessities. You’ll be allowed to keep your things.”

            Ray took the women’s hand. “Nice to meet you, you run a tight organization.” He complimented, letting go of her hand so Ryan could take his turn.

            “I would actually like to know more about that device keeping the zombies away.” He said, shaking Annalise’s hand.

            Annalise laughed and patted her sister’s shoulder once she had her hand back. “You’ll have to ask Beth here about that, she knows how all that shit works. I’m a history nerd for a reason.” She said, turning to go back onto the campus.

            Beth smiled at them and nodded. “Come on, I’ll show you where you’ll be staying while you’re here. Then you can actually help me with that device.” She said, leading them to the dorm buildings.

            Ryan’s eyes lit up and Ray chuckled, shaking his head. “Really?” Ryan asked happily.

            “Thank you for helping us.” Ray said, patting Ryan’s shoulder.

            Beth shrugged. “If you are going to fuck with us, you won’t get far, we have ways to deal with thieves.” She smiled happily, holding the door to the furthest dorm open to them.

            Ray and Ryan paled but entered the building, suddenly very scared for their lives. They were given a room with a single mattress which was fine by them. They were shocked to find that the entire campus was running off some hydrogen energy machine that Ryan just had to know more about. Ray zoned out and took to looking at how the ant farm building was organized.

            The first and second floor was for injured people, hospital beds and people carrying medical boxes rushed around on those floors. The third floor was for weapons and the forth seemed to be just for storage. The center circle was full of people wielding and discussing plans for other devices. It was a strong group, Ray actually wouldn’t mind staying here for a few days.

            Ryan jumped at the chance to work on the machine and since Ray couldn’t understand a word of what they were saying, he opted to help in the weapons department. Well, they wanted him to fix guns that he didn’t even know how to fire so he was moved to the scavenging department who were done for the day. The next part was the survival unit but all he could contribute was how to make jerky which they happily took the recipe from him and that was it. He ended up in the medical area, handing people what they need.

            He changed his mind, he couldn’t stay here for more than a day. He felt so useless and they had so many procedures for everything. These damn engineers had to make everything complicated. Life on his own had been simple and it suited his need to do something of use. This was why he never did well in groups. He either left or was kicked out because they didn’t need him. He was a jack of all trades but he wasn’t a master at any of them. He didn’t want to be master of one single skill. Each one was important and he just needed to know enough to survive.

            He saw Ryan once during the day. He fit right in, solving a few issues the builders were having with one of their machines. He understood what was going on, he followed their rules easily, while Ray could barely remember them all. It made sense really, Ryan was the type of guy that would do well in a group. He was really good at one thing but subpar at others, although he could learn fast enough to be useful in other areas. He would be an important member of any group.

            That fact stabbed Ray in the heart. Ryan fucking loved it here in this tiny college and the people here liked him. They were happily having conversations with him while they were happy that Ray knew how to stay out of the way. This was why Ray as a scavenger.

            When he was let go for the night, early might he add, he didn’t wonder into the mess hall with everyone else, including Ryan. They generally had free range of the campus, so he went to the room they had been given. He ate his own food, felling slightly better that he had fought off a zombie for the can of beans.

            He considered just leaving while he ate, he had done so before. He had joined a group for a brief time when everything went to shit. He left after a month. He couldn’t stand the fighting, the uselessness. He had to do something with his hands. He had tried to join a decent group once before after that, but they abandoned him the first chance they got.

            Ray was good at keeping Ray alive and that was it. He could offer help to people, but once his advice and knowledge ran out, he was no longer necessary, just another mouth to feed. Why didn’t he just leave? Ryan fucking loved it here, hadn’t even looked for Ray when most of the campus went to the mess hall. This place would be good for Ryan, he could make all of his ideas and people would understand what he was saying.

            He wasn’t leaving because there was that small hope in his stupid head that hoped that Ryan wanted to stay with him. That stupid part that thought romance was necessary in his hell of a world. He didn’t think about it more than that. He grabbed his pack, leaving Ryan’s untouched and left the dorm. There were a few people outside but none of them stopped Ray.

            He left the campus easily, making his way towards the actual town of Needham. There was enough daylight for him to slide into town and climb to the roof of a convenience store. The town was pretty well picked over, he and Ryan had checked when they had followed the van. No doubt the group had gone through everything.

            Ray barely slept that night. It was suddenly weird to sleep without Ryan nearby. Ray’s chest ached but he ignored it. Ray was best at taking care of Ray that was that.

            As he was getting ready to leave the next morning, strapping his sleeping bag onto his pack, when he heard voices nearby. Laying down flat on the roof, Ray looked over the edge and saw a bunch of the Olin group wondering into town, wearing their zombie blood clothing. He frowned, there was nothing here, what were they looking for?

            One of the scavengers was looking around, scanning the area and looking at roofs. Ray suddenly recognized the scavenger’s body type and the next clue was that he was looking at the roofs of building. Ryan knew that Ray slept on roofs before he met Ryan.

            The scavenger’s eyes landed right on Ray’s before he could hide himself. They were Ryan’s eyes alright, bright and worried. Ray slid from view, scrambling to climb off the roof before Ryan could catch him. Just his luck, as he started to climb down the ladder he had placed on the side of the building Ryan appeared at the bottom of the ladder.

            Ray looked down at Ryan before quickly scrambling back up the ladder. Ryan made a surprised and annoyed noise before climbing after him. Ray looked between the buildings, wondering if he could make the jump. Just before he could start running to try, Ryan’s arm wrapped around his waist.

            “Fuck Ray.” Ryan huffed, pulling Ray to his chest and holding onto him with both arms. “What the hell are you doing?”

            “Let go!” Ray hissed, struggling in Ryan’s arms. “God fucking damnit you smell.”           

            Ryan just held on tighter, pulling the creepy mask off. “Why did you leave?” Ryan asked, making Ray wince and look at him. He sounded so hurt. Ryan was giving him a pained look and Ray stopped struggling.

            “You were going to stay and I was useless.” Ray sighed, looking at the ground. “Might as well leave and get it over with.”

            Ryan frowned and let go of Ray, hesitating to make sure he didn’t run away again. He moved to look Ray in the face but the younger man refused to look up. “Ray.” He sighed, trying to catch Ray’s eyes. “You aren’t useless.”

            Ray’s shoulders twitch and he glared at Ryan. “I’ve been kicked out of groups and I’ve willing left groups.” He started, shaking slightly. “I am only good at taking care of myself and I’m happy with that. You, you belong in a group. You could make the shit that you’ve been telling me about, you can stay with them and they’ll understand what you’re talking about. You can happily survive in one spot with people who need you.”

            Ryan’s eyes went wide for a moment before he frowned. “Ray, that’s not- I don’t want to stay with them.” He said, eyes flickering away for a long enough a moment for Ray to see it.

            “Liar.” Ray growled, moving away from Ryan. “You want to stay. It would probably be better if you did.”

            Ryan frowned. “I’m not lying!” He insisted, trying to stay quiet. “Even if I did want to stay, I would want you to stay with me.”

            Ray’s shoulders slumped and he shook his head. “Fucking idiot.” He hissed, turning toward the ladder. “I don’t belong. I’m a scavenger for a reason Ryan. You stay with your group and I’ll just move on like I always do, no big deal.”

            Ryan grabbed Ray’s arm before he could move toward the later. “It is a big deal!” He pulled Ray to look at him, frowning.

            Ray gave Ryan a defeated look. “No, it’s not. There’s absolutely no reason for you to keep traveling with me. It’s safer in a group, it’s safer with them. You don’t have to put up with me anymore, you don’t have to save my sorry ass when I get into trouble.”

            “I don’t put up with you.” Ryan moved closer to Ray, holding his arm to keep him from running away. “I save your ass because I want to, because I give a shits about you!” Ray looked up at Ryan with wide eyes, jaw hanging slightly open. “I don’t want to be where you’re not because I would miss you. I don’t want to stay with a group because that’ll make you want to leave. If you don’t want to stay then neither will I.”

            Ray had no idea what to say to that. He’d been alone for so long, gone through companions enough times to know they always left at the first chance they got. Ryan, the big fucking loveably idiot that he was, was different. Of course he was different. Ryan hugged Ray tightly when he didn’t say anything and ran his fingers through his hair.

            Ray hugged Ryan back with shaking hands. Despite the awful smell, he buried his head in Ryan’s shoulder. “Do I like the Olin people? Yeah I do, they’re decent people, but I enjoy traveling with you a lot more.” Ryan said gently.

            “I don’t want to make you stay with me when you’re happy here.” Ray said with a small voice, holding Ryan tighter.

            Ryan rubbed Ray’s back. “I’m happy traveling around with you.” He reassured Ray. “Nothing can change that.”

            Ray laughed, holding his tears back. He pulled away from Ryan and covered his nose with his sleeve. “You stink.” He smiles at Ryan.

            Ryan laughed, shaking his head. “Yeah, sorry about that.” He said, rubbing Ray’s head gently. “Oh hey, the group agreed to give us one of their shitty vans that they’re no longer using. It works, but they don’t need it anymore.”

            Ray blinked surprised. “Seriously? That’s fucking awesome.” He smiled, looking at the ladder. “Let’s go back then?”

            Ryan nodded, smiling gently at Ray. “Yeah, let’s go.”

            The group had waited for them and then escorted them back to the campus when they climbed off of the roof. Annalise gave them two duffle bags of rations and other supplies along with the keys to the van and a few cans of gas. “You two are more than welcome here any time.” She told them, patting Ryan’s shoulder.

            Ryan said his goodbyes while Ray waited awkwardly in the van. Ryan had made many friends here, it made Ray really wonder if this was the right decision. Before he could try to make a run for it again, Ryan hopped into the van and they were on the road heading out of Massachusetts.

Ray drifted off, slept peacefully in the seat next to Ryan, the map dangling from his fingers. Ryan smiled happily as they drove along empty roads. He did not regret leaving Olin behind. As much as he wanted to stay and learn more from them, he didn’t want to stay if that meant Ray would be miserable or would leave. He wasn’t really sacrificing anything either, he was happy traveling with Ray and now that they had a van he could apply the technology Beth had explained to him.

His heart had sunken into his stomach when he returned to their room searching for Ray and found Ray’s things gone. Ryan had searched the entire campus and Annalise had to stop him from running out into Needham to go find Ray. He didn’t sleep that night, he couldn’t. He was so worried about Ray, so scared that he was hurt or trapped somewhere. He didn’t want to be in Olin anymore once Ray was gone, he wanted to go find Ray and sleep in the trees or talking about their favorite video games.

Even if Ryan had decided to stay, he wouldn’t last a day without Ray around. The Olin people were nice, but they were just a tad too much for him. They instantly tried to guess his ideas before he could even finish his thought. They were loud and spoke too fast at times. At least with Ray, the younger man would try to fully understand Ryan’s ideas before saying anything about them. Just as with his old group, Ryan fell into debates that heated quickly with the Olin people.

Ray just agreed with him. Ray knew that there were things that he could not do, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t try to help or understand them. In the matter of survival, it was better to listen and understand because it could save your life. When Ray disagreed with something, he didn’t argue, he debated calmly because getting angry never did anything for anyone. If Ray wasn’t around, Ryan would probably get frustrated and leave anyway.

Ray stirred in his sleep, frowning before opening his eyes slowly. “Rye?” He said, sounding panicked for a moment.

Ryan frowned and gently touched Ray’s shoulder. “I’m right here Ray.” He said, squeezing his shoulder.

Ray relaxed and smiled sleepily. “Ah, okay.” He said, shifting to be closer to Ryan’s hand. “I used to work in a flower shop.”

Ryan didn’t move his hand but watched the road. He raised a confused eyebrow at the new information. “You did?” He asked, glancing at Ray every so often.

Ray nodded, taking Ryan’s hands from his shoulder and holding it between their seats. The van had been gutted, not much too it but it worked. Their hands dangled between them. “I earned enough money to live on at GameStop but I liked roses.” Ray said, eyes dropping like he could fall asleep again any moment. “That’s the only thing I really miss.”

Ryan glanced at Ray and smiled when he saw that he was asleep again. He chuckled quietly, storing that information away for later. He gently squeezed Ray’s hand and caught Ray smiling in his sleep out of the corner of his eye. They would be just fine.


	3. Just Some Fluff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They finally admit their feelings and fluff follows!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is a little short. I wanted to get the cute fluff out of the way before I make some bad shit happen. Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment!

“Rye, I found more food!” Ray said happily, throwing cans of food into the duffle from Olin. They still had the bags because they were easier to cart around now that they had the van. They were in Pennsylvania, taking their time driving around. They decided against their original plan of following the American-Canadian border and just decided to drive wherever they could. More roads were blocked than they had realized so it was just easier to take the clear path.

“Rye?” Ray said, turning around to scan the grocery store that they were scavenging. Ryan was literally there five seconds ago. Ray frowned and gathered up the rest of the food before shouldering the duffle and wondering out into the town.

They had stopped in a small town with at least five gas stations in it. They were taking as much gasoline as they could manage to fit into and onto the van. Ryan had made a basket for the top of the van out of sticks, tarps, and rope. Ryan had even figured out how to purify rain water and had a filer system on the roof of the van.

There were a few zombies ambling around as Ray quickly searched the town for Ryan. He found him in a mattress store, sorting through rotting mattresses. “Rye?” He said, approaching the older man. “What the fuck are you doing?”

Ryan jumped, not expecting Ray to be behind him. He looked at Ray over his shoulder and smiled. “I got an idea.” He said simply, picking up a mattress that actually looked brand new. “Can you help more for a second?”

Ray shook his head and picked up the other end of the mattress. They had to take it out the store’s broken window before walking it to the van. Ray opened the back doors for Ryan as the older man slid the mattress into the bare back of the van.

The van was white like the other vans Olin had, although a bit rustier. The engine ran smoothly and the tires were in good condition, however. There was only the two car seats in the front and a bare back that Ray and Ryan slept uncomfortably on. The other duffle bag was between the two front seats.

Ryan was smiling a little crazily as he pulled his blanket out of his pack and spread it on the mattress, tucking it under the mattress. Ray handed Ryan his blankets when the older man asked for them. He watched amused as Ryan made a comfortable looking bed in the back of their van.

“Tada!” Ryan said triumphantly holding his arms out like he was showing Ray what he won. “A much more comfortable bed.”

Ray laughed and shook his head. “Good idea Rye, we can store the sleeping bags in the basket then until it gets too cold.” He said, grabbing the sleeping bags that were tucked in front of the passenger seat and tossed them up into the basket.

Ryan nodded. “Exactly! It’s perfect.” He smiled happily at Ray, sitting on the mattress and sighing at how nice it felt.

Ray laughed and came to stand in front of Ryan. “Guess we should test it out huh?” He said, blushing lightly and using his ‘sexy’ voice.

Ryan stared at Ray for a moment before saying with a completely straight face, although it was slightly pink. “We could definitely do that.”

Ray expected him to laugh, but when Ryan’s eyes went wide when he realized what he said, they just stared at each other, hearts pounding and blushing. Of all of the times for Ryan to take his innuendos seriously, why did Ryan choose that one?

Neither of them said anything or moved because fuck yeah they actually wanted to test it out in that sense, but they had been holding their feelings in for each other for so long, they both thought it would be stupid to ruin everything now. A zombie growling at them snapped them out of their awkward trance. Ray whipped around and notched an arrow on his bow all in the same motion. Before Ryan could even react, there was an arrow in the zombie’s skull.

Ray took a deep breath, not moving for a moment before slowly walking over to the zombie and pulling the arrow from its head. He looked at the darkening sky. “We should uh, eat.” Ray said awkwardly.

Ryan nodded quickly, taking the duffle from Ray and setting it on top of the other duffle after pulling a few cans out of the bag. “Uh, yeah.”

They ate in awkward silence, both too busy trying to stuff their faces to talk. They were both avoiding having to talk because goddamnit they were still imagining telling the other about their feelings.

They went to bed early that night with quick and quiet good nights. Zombies never bothered with the van as long as they were quiet. That didn’t stop them from wondering close to the van and groaning like they do. Ryan was startled awake by one only to find that he was holding Ray close to his chest.

Ryan looked at Ray, blushing. Their legs were tangled together and Ray snuggled closer to Ryan’s chest. Ryan smiled gently as he rested his chin on Ray’s head, pulling him closer. The mattress was significantly more comfortable than the hard metal floor of the van.

Ryan played with Ray’s hair, eyes drooping. When he woke up in the morning, Ray was blushing down on him, still trapped in Ryan’s arms. “Uh, Rye?” He asked awkwardly. “Can you let go?”

Ryan blinked sleepily at Ray, letting go of Ray so that he could sit up properly. “We always wake up like that.” Ray laughed awkwardly. “I mean it’s nice cause you’re warm and uh, I feel really safe and uh.”

Ray kept rambling and Ryan found it adorable. If Ray woke up first he would ramble like this until Ryan said something. Today, Ryan just liked watching Ray talk, blushing as much as he was. He liked hearing his voice, but Ray just sounded so uncomfortable and awkward.

 _Fuck it, we live in too shitty of a world not to do what we want to when we can._ Ryan thought, sitting up and touching Ray’s shoulder to make Ray look at him. As soon as Ray turned his head, Ryan kissed him gently.

Ray froze, eyes wide. Ryan started to move back, thinking he misread signals when Ray chased him, knocking them both over as he kissed Ryan back.

Ryan froze before smiling and kissing back, wrapping his arms around Ray’s waist and pulling him closer. Ray’s hands were on his chest and they slid to wrap around his neck as they kissed slowly.

Ray pulled back, blushing. “About fucking time.” He smiled, resting his forehead on Ryan’s.

“You could have made your move at any time.” Ryan reminded him, smiling like an idiot. “We should have done that sooner.”

Ray laughed lightly, resting his head in the crook of Ryan’s neck. “Fuck yeah we should have.”

Ryan held Ray tighter, chuckling. They laid there for a few minutes before they had to get up. They finished scavenging the town, Ryan gathering up parts from old cars while Ray gathered up any tools and nearly anything useful that he found.

It used to be that they had to leave some things behind because they didn’t have the space to carry it, but now Ray gathered up anything and everything that he deemed useful. He even picked up some things he would have ignored like normal tools. Ryan needed them to make the devices the Olin people had given Ryan the blue prints for. One of the prints was for a miniature device like the bigger one at Olin. They could make zombies turn away from their van.

Ryan had explained it to Ray a million times and Ray still didn’t completely understand it. As far as he understood it sent a signal out in a dome shape. That signal told the zombie that it didn’t want to keep walking forward so the zombie would turn around. “So it’s a force field.” Ray insisted as he watched Ryan work on the device one evening. They took to just relaxing in the van after diner. They were already miles from the last town.

“Well no, but if that makes understanding it easier, yes.” Ryan said, looking at the blue prints. Ray had said the same thing every time Ryan tried to explain it. Ray kept asking him too, he wanted to understand.

Ray shrugged, frowning when Ryan gave an annoyed sigh. He had been working on the device for days and if he worked on it for too long, he would start to get annoyed with it. Crawling over the mattress from where he was organizing their medical supplies into bags that he had found, he gently set aside the blue prints and pulled the device from Ryan’s hands.

Ryan let Ray take the device from him and watched him set it on top of the blue prints. He wasn’t expecting Ray to then occupy Ryan’s now empty lap with his ass. Ryan was sitting cross-legged resting his back against the wall of the van. Ray was straddling Ryan’s torso as he wrapped his arms around Ryan’s shoulders and kissed him.

Ryan made a surprised noise, resting his arms around Ray’s waist loosely. He kissed Ray back, smiling when Ray licked his bottom lip. Letting his eyes fall shut, he slid his tongue into Ray’s mouth, lazily counting his teeth. He tightened his arms around Ray, pulling him closer. Ray made the most adorable noise in response, his arms tightening around Ryan’s shoulder.

They only parted for seconds to breathe before making out again. Ray’s fingers tangled in Ryan’s hair and Ryan rubbed small circles into Ray’s spine. They pulled apart panting and their foreheads resting together. Ray smiled at Ryan. “Better?” He asked, shifting slightly on Ryan’s lap, his legs getting stiff from their awkward position.

Ryan chuckled and gently leaned forward so that Ray was laying down on the bed with Ryan’s between his legs. Ray blushed lightly and Ryan laughed. “Much.” He sighed contently, shifting to a much less awkward position. He rolled to his side and pulled Ray close, resting his head in the crook of Ray’s neck. They had to bend their legs because they were so close to the van wall.

Ray smiled, and turned onto his side to snuggle into Ryan’s chest. Ryan played with Ray’s hair and gently kissed his head. Ray laughed lightly, pressing light kisses to Ryan’s collarbone. This was so unbelievably nice. They had both had their fair share of boyfriends and girlfriends but nothing felt as effortless as this. Nothing changed, they just kissed more and when they woke up tangled with each other it was much less awkward. They were as happy as they could be during a zombie apocalypse.

They were in Kentucky when they actually got into a car chase. They had been driving along, completely fine and then bandits with cars appeared out of fucking nowhere and started chasing them. Ryan was driving, watching nervously as Ray hung his head out the window and fired at the bandits.

Ryan was trying to avoid zombies and stopped cars, but hitting zombies was inevitable. He was glad he found that grill designed to handle deer hitting it. Ray slid back into the van as bullets whizzed by his side of the car.

“Are you alright?” Ryan asked, trying to stay calm. Ray was reloading his pistol, a scowl on his face. “I’m fine, I took out two drivers so they’re not fine.” He said, suddenly smiling. He waited for the bandits to stop firing before hanging out of the window again.

Ray took out two more of their pursuers before the bandits left them alone. Ray laughed victoriously with a crazed smile. “Holy shit!” He said, looking at Ryan. “That was fucking awesome.”

“That was fucking dangerous.” Ryan scolded although he was smiling. “Please don’t do that again.”

Ray didn’t stop smiling. He took Ryan’s hand and intertwined their fingers. “I’ll only do it if I have to, and that might not be often.” He laughed.

Ryan shook his head and squeezed Ray’s fingers. They stopped on the side of the road that night. There was one zombie in the entire field that they were parked in so they weren’t too worried. As soon as they had climbed into the back, taking off their shoes to have their feet on the bed, Ray tackled Ryan to the mattress.

Ryan yelped, laughing as Ray kissed at his jaw. “Ray?” He asked, slightly confused.

Ray was startling Ryan’s hips and when he sat up he rolled his hips against Ryan’s groin. Ryan gasped and instantly grabbed Ray’s hips gently to keep him from stopping. “Hey Rye.” Ray said smoothly rolling his hips again. “I kind of want to do it.”

Ryan laughed breathlessly, bucking up into Ray’s hips. He pulled Ray down into a brief kiss. “I guessed.” He smiled, shuddering when Ray started to nip at his neck. “How are we doing this?”

Ray hummed and sat up right. He rolled his hips as he thought, smiling at the gasps he drew from Ryan. “I’ll bottom.” He chuckled, gasping when Ryan quickly switched their positions and grinded their hips together.

They had touched before, with clothes mostly on. They had made out and explored each other’s bodies through fabric. They had jerked each other off before, but they hadn’t had sex yet. Five months after admitting their feelings for each other seemed like enough time when either of them could disappear at any moment.

They kissed sloppily for a moment, hands wondering as they always did. Ryan pulled back panting, pulling Ray to sit up. “Clothes.” He explained when Ray gave him a confused look. Ray pulled his clothes off and tossed them into a corner of the van, smiling when Ryan followed his lead.

Soon enough Ray was pinned to the mattress again, both men in nothing but their boxers. Ryan kissed Ray’s neck, sliding his hands gently over the skin of Ray’s stomach. Ray shivered when Ryan gently traced his scars. His breath hitched when Ryan traced the scarred bullet wound in Ray’s shoulder.

“How did you get all of these?” Ryan asked into Ray’s neck, nipping at the skin.

Ray squirmed under Ryan, placing his hand over Ryan’s. “I’ll tell you later.” He panted, glad that Ryan got the hint to leave the scar alone.

“Sorry.” Ryan said gently, kissing Ray.

Ray kissed back, smiling. He gasped and moaned into the kiss when Ryan squeezed him through his boxers. Ryan smiled and slid his fingers past Ray’s boxers.

Ray’s nails lightly dug into Ryan’s back as his back arched and he moaned loudly. Ryan was nipping and kissing Ray’s neck as he held Ray’s hips for leverage. Ray’s head lolled back as Ryan kept hitting his prostate. He moaned out Ryan’s name, back arching off the bed. Ryan moaned at how amazing Ray felt and he picked up his pace.

Ryan struggled not to collapse on top of Ray as they both came down off their highs. He slid gently out of Ray, flopping next to him.

Ray smiled at Ryan lazily, rolling to snuggle into Ryan’s chest. Ryan chuckle and pulled a blanket around them before holding Ray tightly. “We’ll have to figure out how to shower tomorrow.” He said, rubbing Ray’s back.

Ray yawned, resting his head on Ryan’s arm. “Tomorrow.” He said dismissively, smiling. “I’m comfy.”

Ryan laughed and kissed Ray’s head. “Alright my rose.” He said gently, coming up with the name on the spot.

Ray stared up at Ryan for a moment, blushing. He smiled and laughed lightly. “I’m no flower.”

“You’re not just some flower.” Ryan agreed, pulling Ray closer. “You’re a rose, thrones and all.”

Ray smiled and kissed Ryan lightly before pulling back. “Smooth mother fucker.” He laughed, hiding his blush in Ryan’s chest.

Ryan laughed and held Ray tighter. He made sure their guns were close just in case before closing his eyes.

Ryan repurposed his rain catcher to act as a shower for them in the morning. It had been months since either of them had taken a proper shower that wasn’t just rain. They had found soap somewhere along the way and actually cleaned themselves.

Ray joked twice about fucking in the ‘shower’ while the zombie watched and Ryan shut him up by telling Ray that he wanted no one else to see Ray like that, even if it was just a zombie. That Ray like that was something only he wanted to see. Ray was blushing the rest of the shower and until their clothes were on.

Ryan was fully dressed when Ray was just about to put his shirt on, his pants already on. Ryan stopped him, sitting in front of him. “What?” Ray asked, watching as Ryan gently ran a finger over his bullet scar.

“How did you get this?” He asked gently, pulling his hand away and letting Ray put his shirt on. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Ray sighed, rubbing his shoulder like it still hurt. “I was with a group for a short time.” He said, leaning forward to rest his head on Ryan’s shoulder. Ryan gently ran his fingers through Ray’s wet hair. “We were surrounded by zombies and one of those fuckers shot me in the shoulder. He said it was an accident as he was high tailing it out of there, but I didn’t believe him. I just managed to escape the zombies and wondered around until a bunch of bandits found me. They weren’t bad guys, they patched me up and once I was able to fend for myself again, they gave me my shot gun and some supplies and wished me luck.”

Ryan frowned and kissed Ray’s head. “I’m glad they helped you.”

Ray chuckled. “Yeah, me too. That was the last group I dealt with and it’s the reason I don’t like groups.” He said, looking up at Ryan. “I like having just the two of us.”

Ryan smiled and hugged Ray gently. “So do I.” He said before letting Ray go. “We should get going.”

Ray smiled and nodded. He climbed into the passenger seat then raised an eyebrow when Ryan tapped his shoulder and pointed to the driver’s seat. “You’re driving.” He told Ray.

“Wait, what?” Ray laughed, sliding over to the driver’s side regardless. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Ryan got into the passenger seat and smiled. “Not really, but I’m not going to be the only one driving.”

Ray laughed and started the car. “Fair enough.” He smiled. He knew the basics of driving but had never actually done it before. “Let’s hope I don’t crash us.”

“I don’t see how you could manage that.” Ryan snorted when Ray purposefully ran over the one zombie in the field before getting back onto the road.


	4. This is the End?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray and Ryan run into some trouble, but they meet some interesting people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last part! I know the end seems a bit rushed but I wanted to end it happy somehow and that seemed like a pretty happy ending so there's that. Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment!

They fucked up, it was bound to happen. They were too happy for too long, nearly two years now. They decided to wonder around what looked like an abandoned bandit camp. They hid the van along the road coming into town, having painted it green months before.

They wondered through the town, checking buildings and not finding anything. Then Ray entered a room that had people caged and huddled together. They looked malnourished and were shaking badly. They gave Ray sympathetic looks before an ambush startled both Ray and Ryan.

The camp was not at all abandoned, it was a ploy. Lure people in, capture them, torture them, and then eat them. They had been captured and thrown into the cage with the other people. As soon as they were released, their packs thrown onto a pile for later, Ryan scrambled for Ray and pulled him close. He backed them into a corner away from the other caged people who looked like they wanted to eat them themselves.

Their captors were starving them, then would choose one of them to take out of the cage. That person would be well fed then horribly tortured in front of the others in the cage. Then they would be torn apart and eaten by the bandits. It was horrifying.

Ray and Ryan stayed close together, lashing out at anyone that tried to get close. They would take turns sleeping, Ray curled in Ryan’s lap or Ryan leaning on Ray. They planed silently with each other on how to escape. Twice they managed to grab something from their pack with a long stick without anyone noticing. They each had a gun but limited ammo.

After week in the cage, it was their turn. Their captors were kind enough to try and pull them both out at once. It was a mistake on their part. Ray took out one man for every bullet he had, scurrying out of the cage and grabbing his pack while the bandits were distracted by trying to hold Ryan back, the man in a rage and taking out men with just his fists and the occasional gunshot.

The other prisoners joined in their rebellion, there were only twenty bandits, fifteen with Ray’s kills, and thirteen with Ryan’s. Ray grabbed his pack but didn’t get a chance to fire his other guns before a pained whale echoed through the camp.

Ryan had a burning hot poker sticking out of his shoulder. He was about to be over run, the other prisoners scurrying away for their own safety. A gun was pointed at Ryan’s head and Ray only saw red. He fired Ryan’s rifled, never missing a shot. The men holding Ryan down and the one pointing the gun were all dead, and the others were running for their other men for back up.

Ray shook as he shouldered Ryan’s pack along with his own. He pulled the poker out of Ryan’s shoulder and hefted the bigger man onto his shoulders, one arm hooked around Ryan’s leg and the other around his arm, and ran. Zombies had been pounding on the wooden wall around the camp and had broken through when Ryan’s pained yell sent them into a frenzy. The remaining bandits were trying to hold them back but were quickly over run. Screams filled the air as the zombies ran after the recently freed prisoners. Ray ran the opposite direction from the chaos.

Ryan was a huge weight to carry and Ray’s shoulder and legs wanted to give out. Ryan was out like a light, the pain from the barbed poker being pulled out was enough to drag him into unconsciousness. Ray counted it a blessing because the older man would complain the entire time Ray was carrying him and he needed to be quiet right now.

The other humans screaming gave him the time he needed to hobble into a building and awkwardly climb a ladder to the roof. Ray kicked the ladder away just as a bandit ran in after them. The bandit was quickly eaten alive which Ray found iconic.

Ray laid Ryan down and collapsed next to him, his adrenaline running dry and his spine screaming in pain. The zombies angrily snarled around the now truly abandoned bandit camp as Ray set their packs down and dug through them.

It took him an hours to pick the melted fabric from Ryan’s shoulder. Another hour to clean the wound and keep it from infection. He pulled Ryan’s shirt and jacket off, leaving him shirtless on the roof and laying on his clothes as Ray scrubbed the wound.

Ryan whimpered in his unconscious state and it killed Ray on the inside, but it had to be done. That poker had been in horrible places, it had to be thoroughly cleaned. Raw and blistering badly, Ray poured all of their water onto Ryan’s shoulder. They had no burn medication, he never thought he would need it.

The bandits kept their supplies near the cage, there had to be something there. Taking only his bow and a knife and leaving Ryan a note in case he woke up while he was gone, Ray climbed off the roof. He quickly killed a zombie and covered his clothes in the blood. He edged into the building, careful of the zombies, and grabbed the ladder that he had kicked down. He dragged it outside and rested it against the building so that he could get back up.

He slowly made his way through the camp, taking what water and medicine that he could find. He was just about to go back to Ryan when a panicked yell of his name echoed through the camp. The zombies raced to the noise, luckily unable to climb ladders.

The zombies completely ignored Ray as he followed them to where Ryan was, panting and confused. When Ryan spotted Ray and realize what he had done, he slowly laid back down and held his good arm over his eyes.

Ray carefully pulled the ladder away from the angry mass of zombies and leaned it against the building next to the one Ryan was on, keeping an eye on the building. He had seen zombies destroy a building before by clawing at it. Ryan needed to get off of that roof. “Rye.” He hissed, close to the edge of the building.

Ryan looked at him. “Ray, fuck. I’m sorry.” He said, chest still heaving.

Ray shook his head. “Apologize when you’re safe asshole.” He said, smiling lightly. “Grab our shit and jump over here.”

Ryan nodded slowly, standing and grabbing their packs with his good arm. His other arm hung uselessly at his side, oozing puss. Ryan’s face contorted in pain as he tossed Ray their packs before backing up and running across the roof. He almost didn’t make it, landing on his feet at the very edge and starting to fall backwards.

Ray grabbed Ryan’s waist and pulled them sideways and more onto the roof. They landed with a quiet thud, they had landed on Ryan’s arm. The older man bit his lip till it bled to keep from calling out.

Ray was quick to lay him down flat again. He examined Ryan’s shoulder then held a clean rag to Ryan’s lips. “Bit on this cause this is going to fucking suck.” He ordered.

Ryan did what he was told and convulsed when Ray poured more water onto his shoulder and scrubbed his wound again to keep the dirt out of it. Ray left Ryan squeeze his forearm, losing feeling in his hand at the pressure. “I’m sorry Rye, it’ll be okay.” He soothed, pulling out the ointment and gently spreading it on Ryan’s wound before wrapping his shoulder.

Tears pricked at Ryan’s eyes and Ray gently whipped them away and kissed Ryan’s head. He took the rag from Ryan’s mouth and sighed in relief when Ryan’s grip on his forearm lessened. “I know Rye, it’s alright. You’re going to be okay.” He said softly, helping Ryan to move away from the edge of the roof.

The zombies had knocked down the building by the time Ray had gotten Ryan to lay down with his head in his lap. He thread his fingers through Ryan’s hair, a blanket from their packs covering Ryan’s chest, his clothes ripped apart by the zombies. Ray made sure that Ryan got some food and water in him.

Ray kissed Ryan’s head and praised Ryan softly, lolling him to sleep with promises that everything would be okay. He had no idea if anything would be alright. He knew that burns needed constant medication and could get infected easily. The bandits had very little burn medication, he needed to find more.

When the rampaging zombies had finally calmed down and were meandering around the camp again, Ray woke Ryan and helped him off the building. They slowly made their way back to the van, relieved when it was still there. Ray put Ryan on the mattress before getting into the driver’s seat and taking off down the road. He had to find a medical center or something, he needed to keep Ryan from getting an infection.

He drove for a long time, for a day and a night. The sun was rising when Ryan placed a heavy hand on Ray’s shoulder. “Ray.” He croaked tiredly, squeezing his shoulder. “You need to stop.”

Ray’s hands were shaking. “I-we need to find a hospital or something.” He kept driving, hitting a zombie and using the windshield wipers to clear the blood away. “I know there was one in the last town we were in.”

“Ray.” Ryan sighed again, resting his forehead on Ray’s shoulder. “Please, stop.”

Ryan sounded so broken and tired that it shock Ray. He found a small lot, empty of anything moving, and stopped. He turned the van off and slowly crawled into the back with Ryan, kicking his shoes off.

Ryan had laid back down, eyes tired and glazed over. They forgot to eat, for a day after being starved for a week. Well, Ray forgot that they needed to. He had forgotten that he hadn’t eaten anything since being captured. He quickly dug through their packs and found their storage of jerky and freshwater. He pulled Ryan to sit up, leaning against Ray and handed him food and water, taking none for himself.

Ryan ate slowly, leaning heavily against Ray. His eyes looked hollow and his injured arm looked like it hurt to move, although Ryan did it anyway. Once he ate what he could, Ryan looked much better. He gave Ray a serious look and pushed the food into his hands. “Eat.” He ordered, sounding significantly better as well.

Ray shook his head. “Sleep.” He countered, moving Ryan to lay back down. He tossed the food onto the passenger seat and moved to go back into the driver’s seat, but Ryan caught his ankle.

“Ray, you need to eat.” Ryan sighed, sitting up and tugging on Ray’s leg. “I’m not going to die suddenly, I’ll be fine until we find a hospital.”

Ray looked back at Ryan, shaking and scared. He had never really worried about anyone else this much before. He was never more afraid to wake up and find Ryan gone or dead. However, Ryan was right. The medicine needed to be redone every few days, not every day. Ray slowly sat back down, grabbing the food and more water.

Ryan pulled Ray closer and curled up on him, his chest and torso in Ray’s lap. Ray quickly ate what he wanted and downed the water before moving to lay down. He kept Ryan on top of him and cradled his head to his chest. Ryan loosely wrapped his arms around Ray and buried his head in Ray’s chest.

Ray gently played with Ryan’s hair, kissing his head. He curled around Ryan protectively. “I’m sorry Rye.” He whispered, pulling him closer. “I’m so scared of losing you.”

“You can’t get rid of me that easily.” Ryan chuckled, loving the feeling of Ray’s fingers in his hair. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Ray smiled and they fell asleep like that. Ryan woke up to Ray driving again and sighed. He pulled himself into the passenger seat and read the signs they passed. They were back tracking, heading to a small city they had passed days ago. They had scavenged where they could, but had avoided the hospital there. They thought they had all they would need medical wise for a while.

Ryan made sure Ray ate and drank, because Ray was forgetting so that they could get to the town faster. It took them three more days to get to the town they were driving for. It looked no different from when they left it.

Ray parked the van in an alley next to the medical building and sighed. “Stay here.” He ordered, grabbing his pack.

“What?” Ryan sneered, shaking his head. “What if it’s filled with zombies in there?” He started to reach for his pack but Ray stopped him.

“Rye, I survived five years by myself.” Ray sighed. “I’ve escaped hordes of zombies with a bullet in my arm. I’ll be fine, rest.”

Ryan looked like he wanted to argue but sighed in defeat. He rubbed his face and slid into the back. “Just, please be careful. I don’t want to lose you either.”

Ray smiled gently, pecking Ryan on the lips when the older man gave him a concerned look. He slid out of the van and sneaked to the front of the building. There didn’t seem to be many zombies wondering around, however, he never knew with some places.

Ray took a deep breath and pulled his bow free. He notched an arrow and sneaked into the building. There were a few zombies shuffling around, but they seemed nearly at their end of their rope. The zombies were infected with a parasite, they weren’t actually dead. They were just brain dead, no longer the person they once were. As living beings, they needed to eat and if that was on human flesh, so be it. It was not uncommon to come across zombies so weak with hunger that they couldn’t even move anymore.

Ray had it easy getting around them, finding that most of the zombies in the building seemed to be in the same state. A few were actually dead from starvation. Ray moved slowly from room to room and had lucked out. No one had seemed to have touched this clinic. He gathered everything that he could, his pack empty so that he could scavenge as much as he could.

He found all of the burn medication in the second room he checked. He was shaking with excitement. There was so much that he had no idea what he actually needed so he just grabbed all of it. He checked the rest of the first floor, the stairs to the second floor destroyed and full of groaning zombies that he didn’t want to mess with.

As easy as it was to enter the building, it was harder to leave it. A couple zombies with some life to them had wondered into the building. They were prowling around the weaker zombies, but stayed close to the door.

Ray hid behind the receptionist’s desk and grabbed a fallen brick from the wall. Weighing it in his hand, he glanced around the room. Aiming for the far corner, Ray threw the brick, smiling when all of the zombies rushed over to inspect the noise.

Quickly and quietly, Ray slipped out of the clinic and nearly ran back to the van. He froze just around the corner when he heard hushed voices. Leaning around the wall, he saw two men looking the van over. He couldn’t see Ryan from where he was standing, but he was sure the older man was hiding somewhere in the van.

“You think someone just left it here?” One of the men asked, he was tall with messy hair and a big nose. He held a gun awkwardly, like he had never used one before. He had a big pack on that looked like it was about to burst.

“No fucking way dude.” The shorter man scoffed. He had tattoos running up his arms from his fingers. He had a well groomed mustache and shaggy black hair. He had multiple guns strapped to his back and ammo hanging off his hip. He held a gun like he was born with it. “See all that shit? They wouldn’t just leave this.”

Ray took a deep breath and slowly inched into a more visible position. He moved quietly, aiming to take the short man out first, he was the most dangerous. “Then where are they?” The tall man squawked. “Should we wait for them?”

The shorter man shrugged. “They could be dangerous.” He said, drawing out his words like he was considering it. “Or helpful.”

Ray pulled out his knife and grabbed the shorter man, pressing the knife to his throat. The taller man squawked, and shakily held his gun up. “I’m dangerous alright, now drop it.” Ray hissed, pressing the knife into the shorter man’s neck.

The tall man dropped the gun and held his hands up in surrender. “Fuck.” The shorter man growled, dropping his gun as well.

Ray glanced at the van and saw Ryan peak around the driver’s seat. As soon as Ryan saw what was happening, he jumped out of the van and pointed a pistol at the tall man who squeaked. “Glad you’re alright.” Ryan breathed, smiling at Ray for a moment before watching the man at the other end of his gun closely.

“Can’t get rid of me that easily.” Ray echoed with a sigh. “Now, the question is, what do we do with these two?”

“Don’t shoot!” The tall man yelped, shying away from Ryan.

“Okay listen.” The shorter man sighed. “We don’t want to hurt you and I don’t think you want to hurt us.”

Ray and Ryan glanced at each other and Ray sighed. He slowly let go of the man and Ryan lowered his gun. The tall man ran to hide behind the shorter man who kept his hands up. “See?” The shorter man smiled. “No problems.”

Ray and Ryan glanced at each other, slowly backing away toward the van. “Great, we’re going to go then.” Ray said, sliding his knife into its sheath and grabbing his pistol.

“Wait! I’m Geoff.” The shorter man said, frowning. “And this moron is Gavin.” He gestured behind him at the taller man.

Gavin pouted at Geoff but didn’t say anything, his eyes were trained on the gun in Ryan’s hand. “That’s nice.” Ray frowned, hand on the handle of the van’s driver side.

“We’re looking for guys like you two!” Geoff continued. “We’re trying to start a scavenger group, safety in numbers, right?”

Ray and Ryan glanced at each other through the van’s windows. “We’re fine by ourselves.” Ryan said gruffly, moving his injured arm in discomfort. He was holding the gun with that arm, there was no doubt that it hurt.

“No, see.” Geoff sighed, jumping when Gavin squawked loudly. “What the fuck Gavin!” He turned around and saw a wall of zombies in front of the alley way they were in. They snarled at the sound of Gavin’s voice.

“Oh fuck.” Ray hissed, throwing the door open and hopping into the van. “If you want to live, get in the fucking back!” He yelled at Geoff and Gavin, turning on the van.

Ryan pulled himself into the van. “Quickly!” He added, holding onto his chair for dear life because Ray was driving.

Geoff and Gavin didn’t waist a second. They scrambled behind the van and jumped into the back. Geoff could barely get the doors closed in time before Ray started to reverse away from the zombies that started to charge the van. Gavin squawked again, clinging to the passenger seat as Ray swung out of the alley and started to drive out of the town.

The zombies ran after them, but couldn’t match the car’s speed. Ray was taking a different road out of town than the one they had entered on. They started to cross a bridge and Ryan stared as the adjacent bridge in horror. “Ray.” He gasped out, pointing out the window.

Ray could only glance out the window for moments but what he saw terrified him. Thousands upon thousands of zombies were shuffling on the bridge and into the town they were just in. “Fuck.” He shook, gripping the wheel tighter and driving faster.

Geoff and Gavin peaked out Ryan’s window. Geoff was stunned into awed silence and Gavin whimpered in fear. “Why are there so many?” He asked meekly.

Ryan shook his head. “I have no fucking clue, but we’re lucky we got out of there when we did.”

Ray just nodded, glancing back at Geoff and Gavin. He was somewhat glad they saved them, they seemed nice enough and they definitely would not have survived a horde that large. “Geoff and Gavin, right?” He asked.

Geoff looked at him and smiled. “That’s right!” He said, trying to be cheerful, it made Ray relax slightly.

“I’m Ryan, that’s Ray.” Ryan said, gesturing to Ray. “Could you uh, take your shoes off while you’re back there? I really don’t want to clean the bed.”

Gavin looked down and gasped. “They have a bed!” He smiled, clearly not noticing it before.

Geoff was pulling his shoes off and setting them beside the mattress. “No shit, didn’t you notice?” He laughed as Gavin flopped down and took his shoes off.

“No!” Gavin said, smiling. “This is a bloody wonderful idea!”

“Where did you get the van?” Geoff suddenly asked, kneeling between Ray and Ryan’s seats. “You’re pretty clever with supplies and shit.”

Ray shrugged. “A kind group gave it to us.” He said, suddenly frowning. “Hey Rye, think Olin faced that hell we just saw?”

Ryan frowned. “I hope not, and if they did, I hope they survived.” He sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Did you get the medicine?”

Ray nodded, struggling to pull his pack off and hand it to Ryan while driving. “I grabbed everything I found.”

Ryan nodded and started digging through Ray’s pack, reading labels of the medicine he pulled out. He smiled at a particular tube. “This should work.”

“Work for what?” Gavin asked, leaning against Geoff to look at Ryan.

Geoff snorted. “Get off asshole.” He said half-heartedly.

Ryan chuckled and pulled his shirt off, not noticing Gavin’s blush although Ray did and it made the younger man sneer. Ryan unwrapped his shoulder which looked better than when Ray had wrapped it but some spots were starting to blister, some had already burst.

“What the fuck?!” Geoff’s eyes widened while Gavin gagged, falling back onto the bed. “What the hell happened?”

“Do _not_ puke back there!” Ray growled at Gavin, sighing. He glanced at Ryan who just shrugged at Ray before grabbing some water and a rag. He made the rag damp, took a deep breath, and scrubbed his wound.

Ray sighed again, offering Ryan his arm. Ryan latched onto Ray’s forearm and squeezed in pain as he cleared his shoulder of puss and popping some blisters. “Some bandits got him with a hot poker.” Ray winced at how tight Ryan was squeezing his arm. “Who the hell are you two?”

Geoff shook his head, sighing at Gavin who was whining about letting him know when it was over. “We’re scavengers like you two. Found each other, three years back? We’ve been wondering around since.” He explained, taking Ray’s pack off Ryan’s lap to set it in the back. He pulled clean gauze, tape, and the medicine from it and held them out to Ryan. “We’ve met a few scavengers, some were assholes but some were decent.”

Ryan nodded in thanks to Geoff, taking the medicine and releasing Ray’s arm for a moment to open the tube. Ray sighed in relief, letting his arm rest on the duffels for a moment. “Then we got to thinking.” Gavin added from the back, peaking to see if Ryan was done before hiding again when he wasn’t. “We would be unstoppable if we could get a few decent scavengers in a scavenging group!”

“That’s just a group.” Ray sneered, letting Ryan grab his arm again when the older man was ready. Ryan gave Ray a reassuring smile before smearing the medicine onto his wound. “Neither of us have had particularly good experiences.” He grit his teeth, managing not to wince when Ryan’s grip tightened.

Geoff sighed. “Did you not just see that monster amount of infected?” He frowned at Ray. “You either group up or die.”

“Ray.” Ryan said with a pained sigh once he finished, releasing Ray’s arm and cleaning his fingers off with the wet rag before taking the gauze and tape from Geoff. “He has a point.”

Ray flinched because they did have a point, he just thought it was a stupid point. “I know.” He growled, taking his arm back to drive. “It’s just, it’ll be like every other group.”

“No it won’t!” Gavin smiled at Ray, leaning on Geoff again since Ryan was done sticking his fingers in his shoulder. “We have a solution to that!”

Geoff nodded when Ray rolled his eyes. “Listen, we’re not exactly organized.” He said, watching Ryan wrap his shoulder and helping him where he could. “You two however, are more than a little prepared for anything.”

Ryan smiled in thanks to Geoff, pulling his shirt back on once he had finished wrapping his shoulder. “Well, we know what we’re doing.” He side, trying to catch Ray’s eye.

Ray stayed focused on the road. “No shit, you barely have any guns or supplies.” He snapped at Geoff, his grip on the wheel tightening. “What do we get out of this idea of yours?”

“I’m an excellent shot.” Geoff boasted, smiling. “All those years in the military really paid off. I’m also decent with a knife and medical things.”

“I’m good at finding things!” Gavin said cheerfully. “And hiding.”

Ray snorted and Ryan sighed, knowing that Ray wasn’t buying any of this. “Gavin can sniff pretty much anything you want out.” Geoff tried to recover. “He’s also a bomb and trap expert.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Bombs and traps?” He frowned. “Those things don’t go together.”

“You should have seen the setup he had when I found him!” Geoff laughed, patting Gavin’s cheek. “There was nothing getting to him unless he allowed it.”

Gavin nodded, smiling at Ray and Ryan, but mostly Ryan and it grated on Ray a bit. He sighed. “Okay, fine. Why do you want us then?” Ray glanced at Ryan when he felt the older man’s hand on his shoulder but ignored the look the older man was sending his way.

“You two clearly know how to survive.” Geoff said, gesturing to the van. “And how to handle yourself.”

“This sounds a lot of us carrying your sorry asses around.” Ray growled, ignoring Ryan squeezing his shoulder. He glanced back at Geoff and Gavin. Geoff was smiling at him hopefully while Gavin was giving him puppy dog eyes that could rival Ryan’s. He groaned. “Fine, but you have to carry your own damn weight.”

Gavin cheered and Geoff smiled, sighing in relief. Ray actually looked at Ryan and shared his small reassuring smile. “Although you’ll sleep in the front.” Ryan added.

“What?!” Gavin squawked, pouting. “Why?”

“Because.” Ray sneered, looking at the road again. “Deal with it.”

Geoff just patted Gavin’s head, smiling. “Thank you.” He said settling into the back. “We’ll pull our own weight.”

Ray drove well into the next morning, all of them agreeing that they needed to get as far from the horde as possible. By the time Ray stopped his was exhausted. “Alright.” Ryan sighed, slipping into the back with Geoff and Gavin. “We need to sleep.”

“And eat?” Gavin asked hopefully, switching places with Ryan.

“Yeah sure, whatever.” Ray sighed, following Ryan and letting Geoff take the driver’s seat. He dug through the duffels and handed Geoff and Gavin a bag of jerky before taking a bag for Ryan and himself.

They ate in silence, Ray drifting off as he ate. Ryan chuckled at him and brushed the dirt off of the bed before moving Ray to lay down. Ray woke up wrapped up in Ryan’s arms and blankets. He could hear Geoff and Gavin snoring softly from the front. He didn’t open his eyes, smiling when he could feel Ryan’s fingers gently carding through his hair.

He moved closer relaxing into Ryan’s warmth. Ryan chuckled quietly, however, they both jumped when Gavin squawked in confusion at them. Ray glared at Gavin and sighed. He untangled himself from Ryan and sat up.

Ryan frowned and sat up as well. “What should we do?” He asked Ray, pulling on his jacket and personal weapons.

Ray shrugged. “What we always do.” He sighed, pulling his own weapon holsters on. “Get out you two.” He sneered at Gavin and Geoff, the latter still fast asleep.

Gavin was giving Ray a peculiar look as he shook Geoff awake. Geoff blinked awake and groaned. “What?” He slurred, looking from Gavin to Ray who was scowling at him.

“In the back.” Ray sighed again, moving so Gavin and Geoff could get into the back. He crawled into the driver’s seat then looked back at Ryan. “Have Geoff check your shoulder.” He told the older man with a stern look.

Ryan looked at Ray, he was half way into the passenger seat. He knew Ray was annoyed so he didn’t want to make it worse. He sighed and flopped back onto the bed. Ray started driving as Geoff inspected Ryan’s shoulder while Gavin gagged in the background.

Ryan was eventually allowed back into the front seat. He pulled Ray into light conversation, groaning when Geoff and Gavin started to interject and Ray pulled up his walls again. They drove passed a few towns that looked too full of either zombies or violent looking humans. They eventually stopped for the night and they ate in a small circle in the back in the van.

Ray glared at Geoff and Gavin, not really wanting them there. Ryan tried to keep a conversation with Geoff to lighten the mood, but Gavin staring at him was getting to him and he hated seeing Ray so annoyed.

“So, how did you two meet?” Geoff suddenly asked, looking between Ray and Ryan. “You don’t seem like the type of people to trust others.”

Ryan shrugged. “I saved Ray’s ass a few years ago and we’ve just worked together ever since.” He said, smiling teasingly at Ray.

Ray snorted. “My ass didn’t need saving!” He laughed, relaxing. “But I’m glad you did.”

Ryan nodded, flinching when Geoff laughed at them. “That’s gay as dicks.” He smiled at them, not realize that they were actually gay as literal dicks.

Ray sneered and turned back to his food and Ryan sighed, defeated. Geoff and Gavin fell asleep in the front seats as soon as their asses hit the cushion. Ray was turned away from Ryan curled up on himself. Ryan laid away from him and sighed.

“Ray.” Ryan sighed, scouting closer. “Come here.”

Ray glanced at Ryan over his shoulder and frowned. He moved back and let Ryan spoon him.

“I know you don’t like this.” Ryan whispered into his hair. “I know you’re worried, but they’re nice people.”

Ray didn’t answer, he just leaned back into Ryan’s chest. Ryan sighed again and pulled Ray closer. He rubbed Ray’s sides and peppered kisses to his head and the back of his neck until Ray relaxed. Ray intertwined their fingers and Ryan pulled Ray’s hand up and kissed his fingers.

“I’m just scared.” Ray said in a small voice, turning around to hide his face in Ryan’s chest. “What if they back stab us? What is they leave us to die?”

Ryan rubbed Ray’s back, tilting his head up so that they were looking each other in the eye. “I know you weren’t listening when we were talking, but they’re good people.” He soothed. “They just want to help.”

Ray frowned and his hand went subconsciously to his shoulder. Ryan moved Ray’s fingers and kissed his shoulder, over the scar. “I know my rose, but it’ll be alright. I promise.”

Ray watched Ryan and smiled lightly. He kissed Ryan gently before pulling back and snuggling into Ryan’s chest.

Ryan smiled and held Ray tightly, rubbing his back until they both fell asleep. Ryan was rather proud that Ray actually tried talking with Geoff and Gavin the next morning. By noon Ray was having lively conversations with Gavin about some of Gavin’s strange questions. He was glad that Ray was smiling and loosening up.

They found a small crappy town by night fall and agreed to search it in the morning. They were eating, Ray sitting closer to Ryan and talking with Geoff about which gun was better, a sniper or a shot gun.

Ryan was half listening to the conversation when Gavin moved uncomfortably close to him. “So Ryan.” Gavin smiled. “How’s your shoulder?”

Ryan moved slightly closer to Ray. He didn’t particularly like being so close to other people. Ray was a different story of course. “Its fine, it no longer hurts.” He said politely.

“Ah that’s good.” Gavin smiled, patting Ryan’s arm. “You’re really strong.” He added awkwardly.

Ryan frowned, picked Ray up and putting the younger man between Gavin and himself. “Yep.” He said, hiding behind Ray a bit.

Ray yelped, confused at being moved while Gavin pouted and Geoff snorted, amused. “What the hell?” Ray asked Ryan, looking at him confused.

“Nothing.” Ryan shifted uncomfortably, rubbing Ray’s back to distract him. “Nothing at all, just wanted to sit here.”

Ray furrowed his brows at Ryan, shaking his head and leaning into Ryan’s hand. Gavin pouted, moving closer to Geoff. Geoff patted Gavin’s head, laughing.

In the morning Ray found that Gavin’s ability to find nearly anything was extremely helpful. Gavin had to be pulling all of the food, medicine, tools, and clothes he was finding out of his ass. He had to be, Ray was finding nothing in this shit-hole town.

Geoff was useful for look out, staying close to the van but appearing randomly to check on the others. He knew exactly how many zombies were in the town and if there were signs of humans nearby. He was also pretty good at finding alcohol and downing it as soon as possible.

They spent the day in the town, agreeing to move on in the morning. Around noon, Ryan was sitting against the van’s wheel, working on the device. Ray was storing their new supplies away while Geoff kept a look out from the top of the van. Gavin happily returned to the van, holding two sleeping bags out to Ray. “I found some!” He said cheerfully.

Ray stared at the sleeping bags blankly, taking them from Gavin in shock. “How did you find these?” He asked, shaking his head. He tossed them into the basket. “How do you find anything?”

Gavin shrugged. “Need anything else?” He asked, smiling. He finally felt useful. Geoff just shook his head when he found something but Ray and Ryan would praised him.

“Not right now, we’re set for a while.” Ray smiled, sliding out of the van and walking to get into the passenger seat. He stepped over Ryan, smiling at the older man. “I’m going to check the maps, see where we should go from here.”

Ryan smiled back at Ray and nodded. “Alright, sounds like a good idea.” He said, looking back down at his device.

Ray smiled and relaxed. He slid into the passenger seat and started looking through the maps they had. He pulled a pencil out of his pocket and crossed off the location of the town they were currently in. More towns were crossed out or circled tracing Ray and Ryan’s path from Olin all the way to where they currently were. He read over the map, looking at other cities and wondering where would be the most profitable.

Gavin awkwardly came to sit far too close to Ryan for the older man’s comfort. Geoff saw Gavin’s plan and snorted. He knew that Gavin had a boner for Ryan, wanted a quick fuck and Ryan was just his type. He also knew that Ray and Ryan were an item. He figured that it was best that Gavin suffered from his own stupidity maybe that would teach the British idiot a thing or two.

“So Ryan.” Gavin smiled and Ryan mentally groaned. Gavin had a horrible habit of making everything extremely uncomfortable when he started with that phrase. “What are you doing?”

“I’m making a device that will make zombies turn away from the van.” Ryan said, trying to scout away from Gavin. “I’m almost finished actually.”

“Really?” Gavin asked amazed, keeping the uncomfortably short distance between them. “How does it do that?”

Ryan opened his mouth to properly explain then sighed. “It’s like a force field.” He offered, tired from having to explain it to Ray so many times. The younger man finally understood what the device did, although he had no idea how to explain how it worked.

“That’s top!” Gavin said happily, looking the device in Ryan’s hands over. “Solar panels? Where did you get those?”

Ryan smiled, glad that this conversation wasn’t getting awkward yet. “The people who gave me the blue prints also gave me the panels.” He said simply, remembering faintly that they did tell Geoff and Gavin about Olin, although he doubted that either man remembered.

“Top.” Gavin said, leaning back against the van. Ryan continued to work in the slightly tense air. “So Ryan.”

Ryan winced, there were those words again. Yet was really the key word with Gavin. “Yes Gavin?” He asked, looking very, very interested in his device.

“I found this motel not far from here.” Gavin was completely in Ryan’s bubble now, nearly sliding into his lap. “Do you want to go see if there are any working beds?”

Ryan looked at Gavin confused, shocked, and extremely uncomfortable all at once. Ray’s pencil snapped clean in half. Geoff shook his head. “I- What?” Ryan asked finally, trying to move away from Gavin. “I-what are-I-No!”

“Come on Rye!” Gavin smiled, chasing Ryan and nearly knocking them both over. “Just a little fun!”

Ray had Gavin by his collar in seconds. He pulled him off of Ryan and glared. “He said no.” He sneered, offering Ryan his hand.

Ryan sighed and took Ray’s hand. “Ray.” He said gently, wrapping an arm around Ray to keep him calm or keep him from attacking Gavin. Whichever happened first.

“What!” Gavin squawked, glaring back at Ray.

“They’re dating asshole.” Geoff laughed, looking down at Gavin. “You’re fucking oblivious.”

Gavin looked between Ray, Ryan, and Geoff, mouth hanging open. “They are?! You are?!”

Ryan sighed, jumping when Ray mashed their lips together. He kissed back, rubbing Ray’s back to make him slow down. Ray’s arms wrapped around Ryan’s shoulders as they kissed normally. They were panting when they pulled apart, Ryan holding Ray close.

Gavin stared at them shocked then put out. “Oh, sorry.” He said, looking between them.

“I vote we leave him here.” Geoff joked, although Ray actually considered it but only for a few seconds.

“Geoff!” Gavin squawked, pouting at Geoff. The other man just laughed, shaking his head.

Gavin hid behind Geoff as they ate that night. Ray was sitting in Ryan’s lap, not that Ryan complained but Geoff definitely did. “Get a room” He snorted at them when Ryan kissed Ray’s head.

“This is our room.” Ray sneered back, snuggling into Ryan’s chest. “At least, it was.”

Geoff and Gavin made disgusted faces, eyeing the blankets they were sitting on. Ray and Ryan both burst out laughing, not answering their questions about the ‘safety’ of the blankets. They much more enjoyed letting them freak out.

Ray and Ryan stayed awake much longer than Geoff and Gavin that night. Ryan was intensely focused on finishing his device while Ray sat in his lap, snuggled into Ryan’s chest. They both jumped when a rather polite knock on their van’s door echoed through the van.

Ray and Ryan glanced at each other, Geoff and Gavin were still out flat. Ray grabbed his pistol and cracked the van door open. A large man with an orange beard and a short man with a scowl on his face stood in front of the van’s back door.

“Hello!” The bearded man smiled, although he sounded nervous. “Can you help us?”

“Fuck it, there’s a huge ass horde coming here and it’ll over take this town in like five fucking minutes if we don’t start moving now.” The short man growled, pointing in the apparent direction of the horde.

Ray looked between them then sighed. The plus side was that neither of them looked armed. “Fucking fantastic.” He growled, throwing the doors open. Without the door blocking his hearing, he could hear the moaning and groaning of the zombies. “Get in, Rye, wake Geoff and Gavin.”

Ryan nodded, having already put away his device when the two men had started talking. He simply pulled Gavin out of the passenger seat and onto the bed, waking him up with a squawk. He shook Geoff awake pulled him out of the driver’s seat with a promise to explain things later.

Ray got the two new men into the van, shoes off while on the bed, before shutting the doors and joining Ryan up front. Ryan was started the van, it was his turn to drive this time. “Which way?”

“The way we planned.” Ray sighed, placing his pack on his lap and checking to make sure all of his guns were loaded.

“What’s happening?” Gavin asked, eyeing the two other men. “Who are they?”

“I’m Jack.” The bearded man smiled, offering Geoff and Gavin his hand. “There’s a horde coming.”

“A big fucking one too.” The short man sneered. “I’m Michael.” He added a moment later, not offering his hand.

“I’m Geoff and that’s Gavin.” Geoff said, taking Jack’s hand and pointing to Gavin.

“That’s Ryan, I’m Ray.” Ray added from the front seat, gesturing to Ryan. “Thanks for warning us.”

“To be honest, this is to save our own asses.” Jack admitted sheepishly, neither of them had any weapons or supplies from where Ray could see. He wondered where they came from without anything to survive with. “We were running away from the group we were with, they thought that they could survive the horde.”

“They were fucking morons.” Michael shook his head. “You have a working van, we had a better chance.”

Geoff laughed, patting Jack’s shoulder. “You came to the right people!” He smiled.

“Just don’t piss Ray off.” Gavin sighed, glancing at the younger man.

Ray snorted. “That’s only you Vav.” He smiled, although there was hardly any bite behind it. “You two ran with no weapons or supplies?”

Michael pulled a small pocket knife out of his waist band. “I have this.” He snorted, sighing. “There wasn’t time to grab anything.”

“The horde was already on us when we made a run for it.” Jack explained, sighing. “Thank you so much for helping us really.”

Ryan smiled, avoiding cars and zombies as he drove. “It’s not a problem. I think we have enough supplies to set you off with.”

“Nah, they should just stay with us.” Geoff said off handedly, looking between Jack and Michael. “You two are lying, what really happened?”

Jack and Michael froze and glanced at each other. Ray instantly had a gun pointed at them. “What do you mean they’re lying?” Ray sneered.

Geoff, moved behind Michael and pulled out a gun from the man’s waist band. “They’re packing heat. There’s a bandit group near where we were and no groups. They didn’t seem interested in where we were so I didn’t say anything.”

Michael scowled at Geoff, moving away from him then freezing when Ray’s gun clicked. “We got caught by the bandits.” Jack sighed, keeping an eye on Ray and the gun. “We got out when the horde attacked.”

“We saw your van and thought we could steal it when we were safe.” Michael sighed, glaring as Geoff took all of their weapons from them. Michael’s pocket knife and gun and a small pistol from Jack.

“Good job Geoff.” Ryan sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “Now what?”

“We dump their asses to be eaten.” Ray growled, not looking at Ryan when the older man placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I agree with Ray.” Gavin frowned, hiding behind Geoff slightly. These types of stations were the kind that he hid from.

“Do you two have any special talents?” Geoff asked, ignoring the growing votes to just toss the two men as they drove.

Michael and Jack shared confused looks, but were going to answer Geoff’s question if that saved their asses for longer. “I’m good at beating the shit out of anything.” Michael said with a confident grin. “And I’m an escape artist.”

“I’m good at medical treatment.” Jack offered slowly. “I was a doctor, I know how to fix just nearly anything, including the infection.”

Everyone in the van except for Michael tensed up. Ray and Ryan glanced quickly at each other before Ray looked at Geoff and Gavin. “Saved my ass from it.” Michael offered, pulling up the sleeve of his shirt to show a zombie bite on his arm that was scarred over.

“Fuck.” Geoff said, shocked. “You can really do that?”

“How?” Gavin asked, looking at Michael’s arm curiously.

Jack shrugged. “Remember when the outbreak started? Well, before it got too bad, we managed to make a cure but, by then it was too late.” He sighed, shaking his head. “So I ran for it like a smart man, carrying the cure with me.”

Ray shook his head, sighing when Geoff gave him that shit eating grin he knew too well from when Geoff got him to agree to team up. “Fuck, I don’t care what you do. As long as it doesn’t get us killed.” He sighed, rubbing his temples. He placed the gun in his lap, not letting go of it yet.

“I don’t know about this.” Ryan interjected, taking one of Ray’s hands and interlocking their fingers. “They just admitted to trying to back stab us.”

“Do you want to join us?” Gavin asked, smiling at the two men happily and ignoring Ryan’s point. “We’re forming a scavenger group!”

“Scavenger group?” Jack raised a quizzical eyebrow, glancing at Michael.

“The fuck is that?” Michael scoffed, glaring at Gavin. He was way too fucking happy.

Geoff smiled and rubbed his chin. “We’re all scavengers, the best of the best, excellent at what we do.” He said, pointing at Michael and Jack. “We could use someone with advanced medical abilities and someone who’s all muscle.”

Ray squeezed Ryan’s hand, frowning. He absent mindedly rubbed his scarred shoulder, gun still at the ready. Ryan sighed and squeezed Ray’s hand back. He ran his fingers over his knuckles. “As long as it doesn’t get us killed.” Ryan echoed, shooting a quick glare at Michael and Jack.

Jack and Michael whispered between each other for a moment, Jack looking around the van in amazement and Michael sizing up the four other men. Clearly they would not win in a fight against three heavily armed men and a forth who would be too loud and lure zombies over to them. They had no weapons or supplies and they all looked like decent men. What did they have to lose?

“Alright.” Jack nodded, smiling at Geoff. “We’ll join.” He said, pulling a heavy bag out of his pocket. “And we won’t turn on you. To prove it, here.” He held the bag out to Ray.

Ray glared at the bag before carefully taking it. “What is this?” He asked, glancing in the bag and seeing a few vials of green goo.

“The antidote.” Jack said, ignoring the glare Michael was giving him. “As a show of friendship.”

Ray’s eyes went wide and he looked at Jack shocked. Ryan squeezed his hand, smiling. “I, okay then.” Ray smiled devilishly. He slid the bag into his pocket. “I don’t know if you’re stupid or not.”

“Stupid.” Michael snapped, glaring at Jack. “And too fucking soft.”

“They’re willing to help us Michael, and we have nothing else to our names.” Jack sighed, shaking his head.

Ryan drove well into the next night. Jack, Michael, Gavin, and Geoff slept soundly in the back. Ray looked tired but he didn’t sleep to keep Ryan company. “What should we do?” Ray asked lowly, frowning. “I don’t trust these two.”

Ryan sighed. “I don’t really trust them either, but maybe they could be of use. The cure? For the infection? I think Jack we can trust, I don’t know about Michael.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right.” Ray sighed, rubbing his eyes. “But we shouldn’t give either of them weapons until we know for sure.”

Ryan nodded in agreement. He gently took Ray’s hand and squeezed his fingers. “Sleep rose, you look tired.”

“I’m fine.” Ray smiled at the name, playing with Ryan’s fingers. “I want to keep you company.”

Ryan smiled gently and they talked quietly until they thought it safe enough to stop. The others woke up and they ate quietly in the back of the van, Ray in Ryan’s lap to make things less cramped. Michael and Jack didn’t even flinch at their actions, eating the food offered to them happily.

“Where are we headed?” Gavin asked around a mouthful of food.

“Washington State.” Ryan said, arms loosely wrapped around Ray. “We’ll be stopping along the way of course, but we heard somewhere that that area was pretty decent.”

Jack nodded. “We heard that too, the bandits were talking about it.” He said, taking a small drink of water.

“We should get more cars or something.” Geoff said thoughtfully. “There isn’t much room in here.”

“Agreed.” Ray sneered, leaning more into Ryan. “I want our van back.”

“Where the fuck are we going to get working cars? I’d be surprised this one actually works.” Michael snorted, finishing his food.

Ray and Ryan glanced at each other. “You would be surprised.” Ryan shrugged. “We got this one from a group, but we’ve found a few working ones along the way.”

Geoff nodded. “Alright! We’ll look for a car in the next town!” He smiled, scheming behind his eyes. “We’ll need more gas however.”

“Actually, I have the blue prints for a device that turns water into fuel.” Ryan said with a sheepish smile. “I think I have the parts to make at least two of them.”

“How the fuck does that work?” Michael asked, giving Ryan a skeptical look. “Where the hell did you get this shit from?”

Before Ryan could go into the long explanation for the device, Ray spoke up quickly. “There was this nice group of really fucking smart people.” He explained, squeezing Ryan’s hand. “They gave us the van and some plans for devices that they have made.”

“That’s impressive.” Jack said amazed, shaking his head. “And extremely helpful.”

They found a car in the next town that Gavin and Geoff claimed. Ray insisted that they take Michael and Jack with them once Ryan got the car working. He folded when Geoff pointed out that they should keep them separated. Michael ended up in the van with Ray and Ryan while Jack stayed with Gavin and Geoff. They slept in their separate vehicles in the town that night, planning to leave the next morning.

Michael sat in the passenger seat, watching Ryan work on his device while Ray dozed in his lap. “You’re fucking gross.” He sneered, shaking his head. All weapons were hidden away from him and he had no idea where the keys to the van were.

Ryan didn’t look up from what he was doing while Ray chuckled sleepily. “We’re allowed.” He said, shifting and rubbing his eyes awake. “We could disappear any fucking day.”

Ryan paused in his movements, setting his device aside to wrap his arms tightly around Ray. Michael scowled, leaning back in the chair. They sat in silence, Ryan rubbing Ray’s back and side, smiling gently. Ray snuggled into Ryan’s chest, dozing off again.

Michael stared at the car where Jack, Gavin, and Geoff were fast asleep. “How did you meet?” He suddenly asked Ray and Ryan, looking back at them.

Ryan chuckled. “Ray tripped an alarm and was trapped in a closet.” He explained, Ray already fast asleep. “I distracted the zombies and we got out of there. We’ve been traveling ever since.”

Michael nodded, frowning. He watched as Ryan put his device away without moving Ray too much. “I ran into Jack a year after shit happened.” He said, sighing. “He looked like shit and like he had no idea how to survive. I helped him out and we traveled around for a bit.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow and gave Michael his full attention, surprised that Michael was even telling him this. “Like a fucking moron I pulled him out of a bunch of shit.” Michael scowled, sighing. “Then we fucked up badly. We found an old military zone, we thought it was safe but there was infected fucking everywhere and I got bit. I thought Jack would kill me or leave me, but instead the fucking idiot saved my life.”

“He’s a gently man.” Ryan smiled, cradling Ray closer. “I don’t think he could sit by and watch any one die.”

Michael snorted, shaking his head. “I’ve watched him push bandits into hordes of zombies. Fuck, everything is like a giant experiment to him.” He explained, folding his arms. “Why the hell he decided to save me, I have no fucking clue.”

Ryan frowned then smiled. “Perhaps he figured that he owed you.” He suggested, laying Ray down on the mattress before laying down himself. “Or maybe he cares more than you think he does. Just ask him.”

Michael grumbled, turning around. Ryan chuckled and pulled Ray to his chest. He easily fell asleep, a gun hidden on his body, just in case. He wasn’t shocked when he woke up to Michael trying to search their bags. He lazily pulled the gun on the shorter man and aimed it at his head. “Really, you’re very loud.”

Michael froze and glanced back at Ryan. Ray was still fast asleep, curled into Ryan’s chest, but the older man had his gun ready. His eyes were tired and agitated. “Fuck you.” Michael hissed, holding his hands up in surrender.

Ryan chuckled. “You can’t last long without proper supplies. Not that you’ll figure out where Ray hid everything. He’s very good at that.” He sighed, tired as hell, but more awake now that Michael was a slight threat. “Waking Jack wouldn’t end very well either.”

“I wasn’t going to wake Jack.” Michael spat, glaring at the gun in Ryan’s hand. “I was just going to fucking leave.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow because Michael was being honest with him, he could see it in the hot head’s eyes. “You and Ray, you like running from your problems.” He sighed, putting the gun down and getting up to slid into the driver’s seat, being careful not to wake Ray.

Michael glared at him, not moving since the gun was still in Ryan’s hand. He glanced back and snorted when Ray curled into the spot Ryan was and buried his nose into the blankets. “What, are you going to fucking guard me now?”

Ryan set the gun in his lap and stretched his arms. “Well I figured we could talk.” He said off handedly. “Might help you sort some shit out.”

Michael rolled his eyes and folded his arms. “Fuck off.” He hissed, looking out the window and jumping a mile when a zombie stared back. “FUCK!” He yelled, trying to back pedal away from the window.

The zombie groaned, slamming his fists into the van window. Jack jumped awake in the other car while Ryan tried to pull Michael away from the window. Ray jumped awake with a start and grabbing his sniper from basically nowhere. “What’s going on?” Ray gasped, looking around. Gavin and Geoff slept peacefully through it all.

Ryan cursed when the zombie broke the window and grabbed for Michael. Jack scrambled for Gavin’s gun in the other car while Michael cursed loudly and tried to kick the zombie away. “Oh god damnit.” Ray hissed, grabbing his knife and calmly stabbing the zombie in the eye, having to crawl over Michael to do so.

The zombie slumped over, half in the van and half out. Michael sneered and pushed the thing out as Jack hurriedly got out of the other car without a weapon. “Michael?!” He whispered, panicked. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fucking fine.” Michael sighed, hands shaking as he brushed himself off. “Get back in your fucking car before you get hurt.”

“Are you sure?” Jack asked, sounding extremely worried and not moving. “You’re bleeding!” He gently grabbed Michael’s arm where he accidently brushed Ray’s knife trying to keep the zombie from biting him.

Ryan and Ray glanced at each other, sharing understanding looks. “Jack, come in through the back.” Ray said before Michael could say he was perfectly fucking fine.

Jack nodded quickly and rushed to the back of the van while Ray calmly opened the doors and closed them again once the bearded man was in. Ryan smiled, chuckling and moving back onto the mattress and handing Jack a bag of medical supplies as the man passed him.

Michael was scowling as Jack fussed over him. He cursed quietly but didn’t pull away when Jack started patching him up. Ray laughed quietly, putting his sniper back in its hiding spot. Ryan relaxed on the mattress, listening closely around them. No other zombies seemed to be approaching the van which was a good thing.

“I’m fucking fine Jack.” Michael huffed although the other man just sighed at him. “Now get back into your car.”

“Nah, he can stay.” Ray yawned, laying back down. “I don’t really give a fuck, you can’t find any weapons in here anyway.”

“It’ll put a stop to your plan anyway.” Ryan smiled evilly when Michael growled and glared at him. He laid down next to Ray and pulled the younger man closer.

“What plan?” Jack asked, looking at Michael confused. “What were you going to do?”

Michael groaned and glared at the broken window. “Fucking cold.” He grumbled again, sneering when Ryan tossed him a blanket with a short laugh.

“Michael?” Jack tried again, watching the other man curl up in the blanket.

“Drop it.” Michael hissed, trying to get comfortable. “This van is fucking uncomfortable.” He called into the back although he didn’t receive an answer.

Jack furrowed his brow and sighed. He folded his arms and sank into his seat. He glanced at Michael constantly. They were silent for a short time, Michael trying to sleep and Jack trying to figure out what Michael had been planning.

Ray groaned out loud and sat up. “Seriously, the sexual tension is real.” He snorted, smiling slightly. “Michael was trying to leave by himself.”

Ryan sighed and pulled Ray back to him. “Shhhh.” He said, petting Ray’s head.

Ray laughed. “What? They weren’t getting anywhere fast!” He said, but that was the last Michael and Jack heard from them, Ryan effectively shutting Ray up. Neither Jack nor Michael wanted to see what Ryan had done to do so.

Jack gave Michael a pained look. “Why?”

Michael groaned. “Because I don’t fucking know.” He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “Because I don’t fucking belong?”

“Why would you- that’s not right.” Jack frowned. “There’s no need for you to run away, it’s safer here than anywhere we’ve been.”

Michael rolled his eyes and curled more into the blanket. “Never mind.” He said, muffled by the blanket.

“Michael.” Jack sighed, defeated. “Just tell me what’s wrong then.”

Michael didn’t answer, snorting when he heard Ray say in a muffled voice that Ryan was right and that he and Michael had a lot in common before Ryan shut the younger man up again. Jack sighed and gave up, if Michael didn’t want to talk, he wouldn’t.

They feel asleep, awoken by a gun to Michael’s head. Geoff was in a glaring match with a very angry Jack. Michael just looked generally pissed about everything. Ray sat up and pushed Geoff’s gun away from Michael by the barrel. “It’s fine Geoff.” He sighed, still tired. “We can trust them, just get ready to go.”

Geoff looked like he wanted to argue, but decided against it when Ryan glared hotly at him from the back of the van. Ryan hated waking up to tense situations. Jack visible relaxed when Geoff nodded and went to go wake a still sleeping Gavin. Michael just grumbled something about the broken window, Ray took that as an apology.

“Just get in the back.” Ray sighed, taking the driver’s seat when Jack moved first.

Ryan was half asleep in his seat, having not slept well after waking up to Michael rummaging through their things. Jack and Michael sat in the back of the van in silence, Jack starring Michael down while Michael looked anywhere but at Jack. Geoff and Gavin trailed behind the van, wondering what the hell was going on.

Ray’s fingers twitched on the steering wheel, the tension was thick in the car. Ryan was completely asleep by this point. His desire to just point out that Michael was heavily denying his feelings and that Jack felt the same and accepted that they existed and would never happen was strong. He sighed and glanced at Ryan, smiling at the sleeping man.

“Michael.” Jack surprised Ray by speaking first. Ray smiled lightly, waiting to see how this played out.”

“What?” Michael snapped, glaring at Jack.

“Why were you going to leave?” Jack asked, sounding hurt.

“Because I don’t trust any of these people.” Michael snarled. “Because you don’t need me now that you’ve found the group of survivors you were looking for.”

Jack was silent for a moment and Ray wished he could watch this, but he was driving. “Why the hell would you think that? Of course I still need you.” Jack finally said.

“Like hell you do.” Michael spat and Ray rolled his eyes. “You said from the very fucking beginning that as soon as we found a group that you could use that you didn’t give a fuck what I did.”

Jack didn’t say anything again and Ray raised an eyebrow. He glanced back long enough to see that Jack was opening and closing his mouth, searching for his words before having to look back at the road. “I-I know I said that, but plans changed.” The bearded man managed.

Michael slammed his fist into the wall of the van, making Ray jumped. He really hopped that didn’t leave a dent. “That’s fucking bull shit and you know it.” Michael snarled. “You never gave a fuck, I know you saved my ass because you couldn’t survive on your own.”

“That’s not true.” Jack argued, sounding somewhere between annoyed and pained. “That’s not why I saved you. I saved you because I care.”

“Bull shit.” Michael snapped. “Why the fuck do you care what I do anyway? I got you what you wanted.”

“Because it wouldn’t’ be the same if you’re not here!” Jack yelled and Ray winced, glad they were in a moving vehicle. Ryan jumped awake next to him and rubbed his eyes. “Because I realized a long fucking time ago that if I was to find any group to help me make the cure in mass, you had to be a part of it!”

Ray tensed, jaw hanging open. “Wait, what?!” He said, rapidly glancing between the road and Jack. Ryan blinked confused, having no idea what was going on. “I’m sorry to break this wonderful moment, but you want us to do what?!”

Michael glared at Ray, cheeks a faint shade of pink before looking away again. Jack sighed when Michael shut down again and glared at Ray. “Can that wait until after our ‘moment’ is done?” He growled.

Ray winced and nodded quickly. “Right, sorry.” He said, focusing on the road again. Ryan gave him a confused look and gestured toward Michael and Jack. Ray sighed and mouthed to Ryan that he would explain later.

Jack sighed and focused back on Michael. “Michael, come on.” He said slowly, moving to sit next to Michael.

“Fuck off.” Michael grumbled but didn’t stop Jack from sitting next to him. Jack smiled slightly and gently moved Michael to lean against him like they had done many times in their time together. Michael leaned into Jack with a soft smile. “You’re a fucking idiot.” He chuckled, relaxing.

“I know.” Jack laughed, smiling. “No more running away.”

“I don’t take orders.” Michael sneered, smiling still.

Ray sighed when things grew quiet again except for Michael and Jack talking quietly to each other. Ryan shook his head and took Ray’s hand in his. He drifted off again, smiling when Ray squeezed his fingers gently.

When they stopped for the night, Geoff and Gavin felt awfully out numbered. Ray was sitting in Ryan’s lap like he normally did but Michael and Jack were sitting much closer to each other than before.

“Okay, what the fuck.” Geoff asked over his food. “Does everyone walk out of this van a couple or something?”

Michael snorted and Jack smiled sheepishly. Ray laughed and Ryan blushed. “You two better be careful then.” Ray joked, smiling devilishly at Geoff and Gavin. “It’s your turn.”

“NO!” Gavin squawked, scouting away from Geoff. “I refuse!”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Geoff demanded, glaring light heartedly at Gavin. The others laughed, smiling.

“But actually.” Ray said, gaining everyone’s attention again. “What was that plan of yours Jack?”

“Plan?” Geoff asked, fingers twitching toward his gun.

“It’s not a bad thing.” Ryan sighed, shaking his head at Geoff. “Jack?”

Michael looked at Jack and the bearded man sighed. “I know how to make the cure, I just need a resourceful group to help me make a bunch of it.” He explained. “If we could do that, we can cure the infected in masses.”

“Basically, we could fucking end this shit hole of a world.” Michael added, smiling. “Build the world up and shit.”

Geoff, Gavin, Ray, and Ryan all shared looks. “That sounds fucking stupid.” Geoff sighed, leaning back the wall of the van. “The entire fucking world is infected.”

“There’s no way we could do it!” Gavin said, frowning. “There’s only six of us!”

Ray nodded, sighing. “There’s no way we could cure that many infected, and if there was, there’s no way of stopping from all of this from happening again.”

“You’re immune once you’ve been cured once.” Jack added, frowning. “Although, some people would have some heavy trauma.”

“Could you make it so it killed the infected and made the living immune?” Ryan asked curiously.

Jack frowned. “I can, I don’t understand why.”

“That’s a lot of dead bodies.” Geoff speculated, chuckling when Gavin retched at the idea.

“Well think about it.” Ryan frowned. “If we could just get rid of the infected instead of worrying about how traumatized they would be, they wouldn’t be a threat.”

“And if we make the living immune this can’t happen again.” Geoff nodded, thinking about it.

“At least, not this way.” Michael snorted, shaking his head.

“There’s still the problem of spreading everything by mass.” Gavin added, frowning. “There’s no way the six of us could do it.”

“Actually.” Ray piped up, smiling. “I think I know a group that would be able to do it.” He said, looking up at Ryan. “It’ll take us a while to get there however.”

Ryan looked confused for a moment, then understanding light up in his eyes. He smiled brightly. “We need to go to Massachusetts.” He said, looking at the others.

“What the fuck is in Massachusetts?” Michael asked with a confused scowl.

“That’s fucking far.” Geoff added, frowning.

“The group that gave us the van and the blue prints is in Massachusetts.” Ray explained, getting excited. “They would probably have everything that we would need!”

Jack’s eyes lit up. “You think they would? That’s perfect!”

“We’re in Michigan, and my geography of the US is a little foggy, but that’s really far.” Gavin said with a frown. “Can we even make it there now?”

“Fuck yeah we can!” Ray smiled, getting up to get the map. “If it means ending this hell, I don’t see what we don’t just fucking do it.” He said, plopping down on Ryan’s lap again.

Ryan laughed and looked over Ray’s shoulder as he unfolded the map. “Once we get there, we wouldn’t have too many problems.”

Geoff shook his head, smiling. “Fucking hell. We could actually do this.”

“What if they’re not there?” Michael asked, frowning. “It’s been, what, a year since you’ve seen them?”

“It’s still worth a shot.” Jack argued, rubbing Michael’s back. “It’s not like we’re rushing to get anywhere.”

They sat around the map for an hour, planning how they were going to get back to Needham Massachusetts. They chose the cities that they would stop in, based off of what some of them had heard or knew of those places.

It only took them four days to get to Needham including the stops they made along the way. They passed far too close to a horde once on the way there but managed to slide through. As soon as they approached the college, Ray and Ryan smiled brightly.

The campus stood just as they had left it, Annalise and Beth happily met them all at the barrier. Once brought into the plan they put all of their efforts into making the plan a reality. Jack and Ryan spent a lot of time helping them make devices and the correct version of the cure.

Gavin fit right in with the scavengers while Geoff took up exploring the area and reporting back to the campus. Michael helped the weapons unit, fixing and cleaning guns. Ray tried to stay out of the way, but Ryan made him help with building devices and testing weapons, he was the best shot out of everyone in the group.

It took them a year to finally getting a working machine that would sit on the top of vans and spread the medicine in the air. It would take longer for the world to build itself up again, but that didn’t matter. They had done their part for the future.


End file.
